My mother was the director of a handbell choir in a very small church in rural West Virginia. As attendance in the church dwindled, she was forced into rearranging her compositions to accommodate increasing restrictions on polyphony. Remarkably, a single skillful handbell player can ring more than four bells at a time - with both hands - making complex chords reachable.

But my mother's choir was not comprised of skillful handbell players who could form complex chords with both hands. It was comprised primarily of the aging, elderly, arthritic folks; only able to ring one bell with each hand, some perhaps with only one hand strong or mobile enough to ring a heavy metal bell. As the choir aged and eventually passed, polyphony decreased. Soon there were only two hands remaining to ring the bells.

Two distinct notes at one time. The simplest form of polyphony.

This record was performed on the Moog Minitaur and Moog Sirin synthesizers. While each unit is technically capable of playing two pitches at a time by generating sound through their two voltage controlled oscillators, they are accepted as "monosynths" in that it is only possible to send one note at a time to each unit.

To that end, the songs on this record were arranged so that no more than two notes are playing at any given time, with the exception of the second oscillator on each synth occasionally playing an octave above or below the note currently being played. Duophony, perhaps.

The Minitaur was used for the low frequencies (arpeggiated bass lines or drones) and the Sirin was used for the high frequencies (most melody lines)

Two distinct notes at one time. The simplest form of polyphony.

The song What Child Is This? was performed using only the Moog Minitaur, programming the melody into the step sequencer around a repeating bass pattern. Monophony.

Sequenced with an Arturia Keystep Pro, drenched in UAD analog modeled tape delay and plate reverb, and played through the Toneboosters Reverb 4 Cathedral preset, "The Uncreated Light" is a journey through time and space to herald the appearance of a new star in the sky and the birth of a Savior for all mankind.