Karakurenai is a solo for prepared tenor pan, written during a visit to Rochester in June 2007. The piece incorporates an ostinato that is thirty-one sixteenth notes per cycle against a quarter-note melody. The tenor pan is prepared with four magnets that lower the four respective pitches one half-step. The magnets, in combination with a carboard coat hanger bottom, create a unique dampened timbre that serves as the ostinato throughout the entire piece. The melody is played with a chopstick in the opposite hand.

Audio available on innova Recordings #801 - Andy Akiho - No One To Know One

Recorded: June 2010 at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, CT. (Engineer, Greg DiCrosta)
Andy Akiho - Prepared Steel Pan