4/ The strings can be plucked, strummed, and scraped. They can also be dampened or wrapped with small resonating objects. The produced fundamentals and the partials of such experiments can then be digitally isolated, elongated, or modulated to generate new articulations.

5/ Many of these unique sounds can be found on this album.

6/ Can this music be performed in a live setting by a single performer? Not likely. It was never meant to be. A pianist will always be limited by the number of timbres one can simultaneously employ, by the number of fingers, and by the stretch of the hand.

7/ As I composed, I gave myself freedom to paint the sounds without such constraints. As the music swirled in my imagination, I followed it wherever it led.

8/ I worked with a digital pen on a large canvas and painted layer upon layer, each note drawn by hand, meticulously timed, adjusted, and synchronized with the others.

9/ Those of you who know my previous albums composed with electronic and synthesized sounds will be familiar with these concepts, and the same can be applied to acoustic sounds.

10/ But enough about techniques. As with much of my recent output, I find that the music continues to speak mystically to me and through me.

11/ When it comes to the creative process, I have given up on bringing my preconceived ideas and find that the attitude of abandonment and curiosity lead me to more unpredictable and transformative places. I much prefer it this way.

12/ At the same time, I observe that the more I relinquish my ideas, the more personal and autobiographical the music becomes.

13/ Every artist struggles with how much to reveal and how much to conceal, but ultimately, we are called to convey and to illustrate our emotions so that others can find in them their own reflection.

14/ The album is a portrayal of my arduous faith journey. Along the way I have experienced some epiphanies and triumphs, but more acutely, doubt, detours, and despair. I have not arrived yet but I feel that I continue to arrive. dosiamckay.com/mystical-piano/ #classicalmusic #Orthodox

You are invited to three upcoming concerts by The Paramount Chamber Players. I am excited to hear a new interpretation of my string trio Grit and Glitz. #calssicalmusic #Knoxville #composer #violin #viola #cello #piano

If we must spring forward, why not do it on a Saturday? #DaylightSavingTime #DaylightSavings

A strange week. The pope died. A close friend died. Aldi's cart gave me back a Sacagawea dollar instead of a quarter. In God we trust.

I am working on the orchestral parts for the strings and when they play divisi, I wonder whether it’s Master of Divinity or Doctor of Divinity. #classicalmusic #composer

"You can't eat the spoon with a fork." - this was someone's slip of the toungue in a recent conversation but I can't help but think there is a deeper truth involved.

I look forward to the premiere of my orchestral work "Earthrise" by the Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony under the direction of Douglas Bakenhus. nnssla.org/program-notes dosiamckay.com/music-scores/e… #composer #conductor #orchestra #ClassicalMusic

Painters have color swatches, color wheels, and gray scales. Chemists have the Mendeleev’s periodic table of elements. But what do composers have to guide their harmonic explorations? dosiamckay.com/writing/harmon… #musictheory #ClassicalMusic