Infinity Gradient (2021) by renowned New York composer Tristan Perich was written for the organist James McVinnie and scored for solo organ and 100 speakers. The piece is a musical tour-de-force through Perich's unique sound world that merges primitive electronic waveforms with physical instrumentation. Centered around the sonic magnitude of the pipe organ, Perich matches its scale with a tiered electronic orchestra of 100 speakers. In this massively multi-channel setup, each speaker plays its own individually composed line of music, synthesized by custom 1-bit electronics that Perich designs and builds. Perich's largest work to date, this is also his first to section his speakers into groupings of different sizes, a counterpoint to the dynamic range of the organ.

The work is composed for and performed by organist James McVinnie, who works at the intersection of organ, electronics and minimalism in collaborations with Squarepusher, Philip Glass, and many others. The organ, itself a product of the technology of its time, is a wind and keyboard instrument hybrid whose basic sound production principles have remained unchanged for centuries, offering a kaleidoscopic array of pitch and tone colour. On an abstract level, organs are giant site-specific sound installations designed to fill architectural spaces: the room becoming the body of the instrument. Despite its sonic grandeur, organ pipes simply speak or are silent. This binary approach to sound production makes it an ideal instrument to pair with 1-bit electronics. The synthesis of these sounds will fill the performance space with an immense, unique tonality.

Following on the heels of Perich's other large-scale works (Drift Multiply and Surface Image), this new piece enlarges the scope of the electronic ensemble yet again, allowing an enormous range of expression. From gritty subtonal bass, to cascading layers of melody, to delicate clouds of pitch, Perich traverses the musical techniques he has been exploring since his circuit album 1-Bit Symphony. Interweaving raw electronic sound with the physical expressiveness of pipe organ, the work presents a new hybrid color of sound.

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