Ellen Arkbro
Pristine, long-form drones built on the mathematical beauty of just intonation. Immersive pipe organ and brass that feel like architecture made of sound.
Pristine, long-form drones built on the mathematical beauty of just intonation. Immersive pipe organ and brass that feel like architecture made of sound.
Listening to Ellen Arkbro is like watching a glacier move in real-time. Her music is built on the concept of 'long duration,' where chords don't just play; they exist as physical presences in the room. By using ancient tuning systems like just intonation, she creates harmonies that vibrate with a purity and clarity that standard Western tuning can't achieve. It is music that demands you slow your heart rate to match its pace.
What sets Arkbro apart is her surgical focus on the relationship between sound and space. Whether she is working with a massive pipe organ or a delicate brass ensemble, she treats the resonance of the room as a primary instrument. The notes are held for so long that your brain begins to perceive the hidden overtones and microscopic shifts in frequency, turning a simple chord into a complex, shimmering landscape.
Start with 'For Organ and Brass' to experience her most iconic architectural sound. For something slightly more intimate and surprisingly melodic, her collaboration with Johan Graden, 'I get along without you very well,' introduces a ghostly, skeletal take on pop structures that still retains her signature stillness.
Ellen Arkbro (born 1990) is a Swedish composer, sound artist and musician working with precision-tuned harmony in frameworks such as just intonation and meantone temperament. Having primarily composed for and performed on pipe organ, Arkbro's work has also included pieces for other acoustic instruments and sound synthesis. She has released several studio albums, beginning with For Organ and Brass (2017), in additional to several collaborative works.
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