Misconnect was formed out of a transposition of Messiaen's third mode. It's very exciting for me to take a mode of his and see what chords can be formed from it. Most modes render unconventional relationships between commonly used chords. For this piece I used only major triads from that one transposition. The triads available from this transposition of the third mode are F, Gb, A, Bb, Db, D. We see that there are relationships that are more conventional; those in perfect fourths, F to Bb, Db to Gb, and A to D, and their inversions, D to A, Gb to Db, Bb to F. But what's most appealing to me are the less conventional relationships; those based in major and minor thirds, F to A, Gb to A, etc. Of course at this point in history triads moving in thirds is nothing new. I remember studying a Brahms Symphony in college and discovering many tertiary harmonic relationships. They also call to mind Bartok for me. But what's interesting and enjoyable with the Messiaen technique is that these triads are all tied together with the mode. They have a different relationship than they do in Brahms. I feel encouraged to move between them and they're supported by the melodic use of the mode. And it's all the more encouraging that the piece doesn't sound like a Messiaen piece.
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