Artist Detailed Info: Gate 5 Ensemble

Harry Partch distributed his music as "Gate 5 Records." The name is from the building into which the composer moved his unique instruments after the Second World War. The building was at Gate 5 of the Sausalito shipyards where warships were built and is still the name of an area which was converted to civilian uses after the war, The "fifth gate" also has a mystical significance, in that old walled cities commonly had four gates at their cardinal points, and the Fifth Gate was a metaphysical one, the intangible Gate to Illusion.

The recordings were sold by mail order ($6.50 apiece) in order to disseminate Partch's music and to raise money for his projects, and became his chief source of income.

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