Christopher Tignor, I, Autocorrelations Review

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Composer, violinist, and software engineer Christopher Tignor is creating a sound that is unique and pushing the boundaries of acoustic and electronic instruments creating organic soundscapes. His writing and unique focus on live, performance-based electroacoustic practices have earned him acclaim from both the classical and experimental communities over the course of his nine albums on the Western Vinyl and New Albion record labels. Tignor creates his own live performance software, sharing it freely for all to use. Tignor is a senior software engineer at Google, and recently completed his PhD in Composition at Princeton. As a composer, he has written and recorded works for many ensembles including: The Knights, A Far Cry, and Brooklyn Rider, performing alongside them at premiere venues including Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. As a string arranger, he has worked with Helios, John Congleton, This Will Destroy You, Meshell Ndegeocello, and several other artists at the boundaries of popular music. Tignor explains further about his process, “I built software and performance methods that let me wield modern electronic forces using acoustic instruments: my violin and percussion. Using custom violin processing, kick drum triggered synths, tuning forks, hi-hats, triangles, and bells, I created a space for truly contemporary and highly expressive instrumental narratives, often surrounded live with vivid video. Using no overdubs, pre-recorded tracks, clicks, or looping, this music dismissed electronic music’s grid, reclaiming time as a first order expressive element, flexing it, while doubling down on the performance aspect of this performance art. The music brought me around the world, from Tbilisi, Georgia to Havana, Cuba, and many points between, ever-refining my ideas for what might be next.” On October 11, 2019 Tignor is releasing the album titled, A Light Below on Western Vinyl. “I, Autocorrelations” is the first single from the album that has elements modern classical combined with innovative violin techniques, triggered synth sounds, percussion and tuning forks.