myriad

Myriad is a post-apocalyptic love story comprised of 10,000 tracks of recorded audio, yielding a great wall of sound. Unfolding over 31 minutes, the piece features over 150 performers on 200+ instruments including the Persian santur, various ARP/Buchla/Moog analog synthesizers, gamelans (handmade by Lou Harrison), classical strings, tympani, harpsichord, and percussion. Myriad is performed by a veritable “world orchestra”, creating the most epic piece of recorded music ever.

Performers include (see full list below): Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Agnes Szelag/Marielle Jakobsons (of Myrmyr), William Winant, Jon Porras/Evan Caminiti (of Barn Owl), Gregg Kowalsky, Ellen Fullman, Carla Kihlstedt, Matthias Bossi, Shahzad Ismaily, Chris Cutler, Theresa Wong, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Jozef Van Wissem, Luciano Chessa, Stuart Dempster, Wobbly, Jacob Felix Heule, Quentin Sirjacq, and Søren Kjærgaard.

The piece began as an improvisation on harmonium on November 4th, 2007.  The piece was finished in November of 2011, and was released by The Tapeworm in March of 2013.

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the full list of 154 performers:

The Norman Conquest, Brian Gleeson, Shayna Dunkelman, Theresa Wong, Zachary James Watkins, Agnes Szelag, Marielle Jakobsons, Ava Mendoza, Noah Phillips, Sarah Palmer, Andy Strain, Jason Hoopes, Jordan Glenn, Jon Porras, Evan Caminiti, Emily Packard, Damon Waitkus, Preshish Moments, Alee Karim, Joyce Teale, Bruce Teale, Gregg Kowalsky, Johanna Borchert, Ellen Fullman, Dave Holton, Patrice Scanlon, Sean Clute, Aram Shelton, Eli Wise, Kristine Barrett, Kevin Adams, Varun Kejriwal, Caroline Penwarden, Luis Maurette, Cory Wright, Angela Hsu, Ri Crawford, Matthew Pusti, Kate Mcloughlin, Marty McGinn, Mike Guarino, Phoebe Lehr, Chuck Johnson, Michael Gardner Cox, Phillip Greenlief, Hilary Overberg, Luke Selden, Karl Evangelista, Ben Bracken, Sam Ospovat, David Ryther, Deborah Katz, Victor Lowrie, Amelia Lukas, Kathryn Thompson, Heather Vorwerck, Hande Erdem, Lauren Elledge, Polly Moller, Ashley Morro, Maryclare Brzytwa, Jennifer Harper, Kate McLoughlin, Lisa McGee, Marcie Mara-Ann, Michael Elrod, Suki O’Kane, Tom Duff, Vanessa Beggs, Bob Marsh, Kurt Kottheimer, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, Matthias Bossi, Zeena Parkins, Shahzad Ismaily, Jewlia Eisenberg, Kristin Slipp, Chris Cutler, Kanoko Nishi, Jen Baker, Dennis Somera, Melody Ferris, Guðmundur Steini Gunnarsson, Paul Scriver, Ivor Holloway, Derek Monypeny, Amy Friebertshauser, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Maxwell Croy, Tony Cross, Steve Dye, Adria Cardwell, Jozef Van Wissem, Matthias Jentsch, Daniel Feese, Heath Thacker, Patrick Allen, Luciano Chessa, Blixa Bargeld, Beth Custer, Oscar Kaiser, Alejandra Ortiz, Saed Muhssin, Kala Ramnath, Moe! Staiano, Leah Rae Mittelmeier, David Gamper, Stuart Dempster, Manuel Salas, April Coker, Eddie Rich, Evan Fraser, Heike Liss, Burt Winn, Rachel Kast, Lisa Mezzacappa, Marco Eniedi, Darren Johnston, Sheldon Brown, Anantha Krishnan, Sam Wambach, Nadja, Nathan Fritz, Amir Shirani, Erik Larson, Matt Marks, Liz Albee, San Francisco Symphony, Jesse Quattro, Charity Chan, Quentin Sirjacq, Antoine Berthiaume, P.L. Grove, Leif Shackelford, John Kessler, Angel Gold, Michael Gold, Robert Lautenslager, Ivan Piesh, Nathan Snider, Jerry Smith, Sarah Howe, Sammy Kruger, John Abbott, Erika Pipkin, Torben Snekkestad, Stefan Smith, Benjamin Tinker, Wobbly, Jacob Felix Heule, William Winant, George Chen, Søren Kjærgaard

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and the full list of 190 instruments:

harmonium, voice, supercollider, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone electric guitar, toy guitar, lap steel guitar, xylophone, citara mini harpa, long string instrument, gamelan, singing bowls, bul bul tarang, gu zheng, lou harrison koto, autoharpguitar, mandolute, marimba, vibraphone, lou harrison xylophone, drum kit, electronic drum kit, drum machine, electronics, congas, bongos, maracon, guasa, tamborines, shakers, timbales, djembe, cell phone, wine bottles, beer bottles, omnichord, mandora, handbells, iphone, slide whistle, violin, cello, sitar, harp, dulcimer, sruti box, charango, chromatic harmonica, toy piano, sanxian, melodica, pitch pipe, portative organ, pipe organ, chord organ, accordion, electric organ, banjo, double bass, piano, piano zither, harpsichord, fortepiano, celeste, glockenspiel, ukulele, baritone ukulele, tuned feedback, psaltery, santur, viol de gamba, yangquin, rebec, steel tongue drum, kokle, tuning fork, tuner, tabla, dan bau, ocarina, oud, coffee cup saucer, toy xylophone, tin can mandolin, bass banjo, yamaha tx81z, waldorf micro Q, doepfer modular, moog low pass filter/freqbox, paia stringz n’ thingz, nord lead, yamaha an1x, yamaha sk20, MOTU bassline, novation bassstation, MOTU model 12, MOTU modulo, MOTU nanosampler, MOTU polysynth, MOTU proton, roland em10, roland super jv1080, yamaha psr140, automat, cheeze machine, freealpha, casio celviano, ticky clav, yamaha dx21, yamaha dx7, korg microkorg, nord electro, ARP 2600, ARP axxe, ARP avatar, buchla modular prototype, alesis qs8, stylophone, korg electribe, sequential circuits pro one, the amen break, tympani, tubular bells, crotales, electric cello, novation bass station synthesizer, rhodes electric piano, electric violin, alto trombone, large bore trombone, small bore trombone, slide trumpet, vibraphonette, glockenspiel, autoharp, 5 string acoustic violin, musical saw, banjo, wine glasses, ukelin, flute, max/msp beats, max/msp synth, clarinet, dobro acoustic guitar, electric tanpura, tonkori, blossom, no-input mixer, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, recorder, casio sk1, roland tr707, coke bottle, pump organ, m’bira, bombo, cajon, chango, seed shakers, marimba de chonta, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto flute, gongs, tympani, feedback, bassoon, veena, chromatic lap zither, viola, prepared guitar, koto, baroque lute, nyckelharpa, bass harmonica, oud, berimbau, cellphone sruti box, tabla, french horn, philicorda, mandolin

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pictures of some of the recording sessions: