David B. Doty

Who is David B. Doty?

David B. Doty is an American composer and authority on just intonation. He is the author of The Just Intonation Primer.

Inspired in part by the work of Harry Partch, Doty began composing in 1970 and in 1975 co-founded the San Francisco based ensemble Other Music with Henry S. Rosenthal and Dale S. Soules. After Doty studied intonation with Lou Harrison, members of Other Music built an American gamelan based on a 14-tone-per-octave just tuning designed by Doty and Soules. Other Music performed extensively in Northern California using these instruments during the years 1977–1981. Three of Doty's compositions from this period were featured on Other Music's 1980 LP Prime Numbers. Other Music ceased performing publicly in 1981, but in 1983 recorded and released a studio album, Incidents Out of Context, featuring compositions combining gamelan with synthesizers and other acoustic and electro-acoustic instruments.

After the dissolution of Other Music in 1983, Doty began composing for MIDI instruments and sequencers, which he has continued to do into the 21st century. Seven of these compositions in just intonation are included on his 1998 solo CD Uncommon Practice on Syntonic Records.