Bass Manta

In the pieces I have written for it, the Bass Manta is the heart of the ensemble. It includes a hexagonal touch-sensitive keyboard (The Manta) situated on top of a dual chambered resonator, inspired by double bass construction techniques. The tone of the resonator is similar to a double-bass. I often put the signal to the top resonator, which I call the "midrange pulpit", through a volume pedal, so that some extra timbral bite can be faded in when desired.

Cracks that have formed in the face and back have taught me why traditional instruments are generally not built with extremely rigid sides framing a thin spruce face. I suppose basic physics should have suggested that the face would expand and contract with humidity and the rigid sides would refuse to bend with the changes.

Architect Luc Deckinga helped with the CNC milling and design on the Bass Manta and the Resophonic Manta.

The Bass Manta appears in the pieces Concerning the Nature of Things and Undeciphered Writing. It is described in my dissertation, "Exploration of an Adaptive Just Intonation System".