OTODEBLU is my response to Georg Hajdu's invitation to add to his collection of short piano pieces using 17 tones per octave and to Amnon Wolman independently requesting a short piece to add to those with which he was to celebrate John Pierce's 80th birthday.

With my computer program AUTOBUSK it basically took me 8 hours into Wolman's deadline of October 1st 1990. My initial wish to develop a harmony involving the 7th and 11th partials I left for later, the grammar here deriving from natural 5ths and 3rds. The four-minute-piece's title could be seen to refer to AUTOBUSK (generating all but a tiny quote from the song "Sixteen Tons"), to the brand new Octogenarian for whom it was written, to its completion date (Oct. 1), the hours it took to make (8) as well as to its (blues) style. Also 'otodeblu' is Japanese for 'made blue by sound'. Frequently performed on a retuned player piano, otodeblu may also be performed by live musicians, either in 12-, 17- or 24- tone tuning.