Harry Partch

Harry Partch was an American composer and innovator known for creating his own musical instruments and tuning systems. Dissatisfied with traditional Western music's limitations, he developed unique scales and sounds by building instruments from unconventional materials like wine bottles, metal plates, and custom-made devices. His work explores microtonality—dividing the octave into more than the standard 12 notes—to produce novel auditory experiences. Partch's pioneering approach expanded the possibilities of musical expression, emphasizing physicality and harmony in new ways, and his influence is recognized in avant-garde and experimental music circles.