Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an America composer and instrument builder. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scale, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation. Biography Partch was born on June 24, 1901 in Oakland, California. Both his parents were Presbyterian missionaries; Harry was born soon after they fled the Boxer Rebellion in China. He spent his childhood in small remote towns in Arizona and New Mexico, where he heard and sang songs in Mandarin, Spanish, and American Indian languages. Partch was sterile, probably due to childhood mumps. Most of Partch's loving relationships were with men. Partch learned to play the clarinet, harmonium, viola, piano, and guitar as a child. He began to compose at an early age using the equal-tempere

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