Sound artists Felix X Tigersonic and Akira (Ningrui Liu) are making music by tossing coins. Not as a gimmick, but as a genuine compositional framework borrowed from the I Ching, the ancient Chinese Book of Changes that’s been used for divination for thousands of years.
The two met through Lofi ensemble, an improvisation workshop, and quickly realized they shared an obsession with chance and randomness as creative tools. Tigersonic (aka Felix Macintosh) had already been experimenting with Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies and dice in her underground Islington studio, while Akira, fresh from completing her MA at the Royal College of Art, was using the I Ching as both a creative engine and conceptual framework in her film work.
Their collaboration centers on the I Ching as both compositional tool and philosophical anchor. The process is simple: toss coins, interpret hexagrams, respond instinctively with sound and image. The results. two tracks called “Feng” and “Tai” are messy, playful, and surprisingly cohesive for something built on chaos.
The I Ching method isn’t new to music. John Cage famously used it in his 1951 composition “Music of Changes,” creating charts for sounds, durations, dynamics, and tempo, then using coin tosses to determine which elements to use. What Tigersonic and Akira bring to it is a contemporary sensibility that blends dubby bass textures with speculative film work and spoken word.
The second track features drums by Mike Skelton, originally recorded for Akira’s “Film of Changes: How to Play Biangu.” The percussion adds a grounding element to what could otherwise feel untethered, a reminder that even chance needs something to push against.
This project isn’t just Tigersonic and Akira working in isolation. The wider creative team includes improvisation legend Steve Beresford, who’s been a central figure in British experimental music for over fifty years, along with Faradena Afifi, Gwendolyn Kassenaar, Jo Morrison, and Bettina Schroeder. Their contributions shape the work in ways that blur individual authorship, which seems fitting for a project built on surrendering control.
As Akira puts it: “Letting go of control allows me to be surprised. Years of precise editing once made me feel restricted, as if every detail had to be rehearsed in advance. Working with the I Ching taught me to step back…to listen differently.”
The tracks don’t sound random, which is maybe the strangest thing about them. There’s structure here, even if it wasn’t consciously designed. The feedback loop between chance and authorship creates something that feels intentional without being controlled, a paradox that works better in practice than it sounds on paper.
Listen on Spotify below
Words by Jay Mitchell
