Nikko Wolverine (1999) is a three-movement piece scored for various bowed and struck metal instruments in non-tempered tunings. These instruments, which were designed and built by the composer, emit tones that are rich in complex harmonics and often sound more electronic than acoustic. All three movements of this work share motivic materials, but each successive movement adds more harmonic complexity and textural density to the movement that preceded it.

Tons Tons Macoutes (1999) is a texturally dense work for Smith’s metal instruments. It is almost glacial in both its presence and its pace, and it might call to mind certain musique concrete works.

Genus, Sho-Bud and the hymn-like Near the Divide, both composed in 1999, feature the composer on pedal-steel guitar. The first of these works utilizes a highly processed sound and unfolds through series of harmonic suspensions. The second utilizes a more traditional pedal-steel sound—both in timbre and in style. Both works progress at a very leisurely pace.

Chas Smith, a Los Angeles-based composer and performer in the American maverick tradition of Harry Partch, creates much of his music from exotic instruments of his own design. As a performer, he regularly appears on feature film scores, playing both pedal-steel guitar and his many personally designed instruments. (He may be heard on such popular film scores as The Shawshank Redemption, The Horse Whisperer, and American Beauty.) Smith has also been featured on recordings by composer Harold Budd and with Oscar-nominated film composer Thomas Newman in the experimental music ensemble Tokyo 77. Smith performs his own works at new music festivals and art galleries. His work as a composer and/or as a performer may be heard on the Intone/City Hall, Arc Light, Cold Blue, Cantil, MCA, and Straw Dog labels.

“Like famed composer and instrument builder Harry Partch, whom Smith readily acknowledges as an influence, Smith creates unsettling music that is both beautiful and eerie.” —Electronic Musician magazine

“The buzzing cloud of overtones becomes thicker as the work slowly progresses, and the harmonies take on an aching quality, and it is difficult to know whether one is calmed or disturbed by this music.” —ClassicalNet