The chromicon is a concentrically organized graphic art form invented by Dillon Ford whose various colors correspond to specific musical pitches. These pitches are determined by reference to the chromonomicon, a device which enables the user to establish precise equivalencies between each hue and the twelve tones of the chromatic scale. Performance consists in choosing a specific "path" starting with the "letter" (i.e., color-pitch) at (or closest to) the center, moving outwards towards the periphery along that path, then returning once more to the center. The melody derived from this pathway (which may be a palindrome) serves as the basis for the entire composition, much as music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance was frequently based on a cantus firmus around which other voices were woven polyphonically. The shapes and ornamentation of chromicons suggest to the performer how the melodic path chosen can be troped by the addition of other material. A monograph titled Chromatic II: Meditation as Creative Expression will be published by New Music Classics to describe the creation and realization of chromicons in far greater detail.
