May 8, 2016
One of the most interesting and personable people I've met in my journey has be Stephen James Taylor. An accomplished composer and film scorer, he is also on a path that includes research into tuning systems combined with an interest in building unique instruments. The work he does ranges from Disney animation scoring to bluesy solo pieces, and he is able to weave all of his interests into an amazing sonic tapestry.
In this chat, Stephen and I dive into his microtonal interests (including his work with and on Erv Wilson's tuning mapping), his background coming up in the film scoring world, and how he dealt with the various existential crises throughout his life. We also talk a lot about the conundrum of new tunings, the required new instruments, and how a body of work gets created to support them. We also talk more about instrument design, for while Stephen is a wealth of knowledge.
Enjoy, and check out his work at http://www.stephenjamestaylor.com.