"Two summers ago, my solo album slowly took shape. I lost myself in sound, stretching and reshaping the serpent's voice. While I searched for direction, my daughter had hers. At the start of summer, she set a goal: perfect her handstand, moving a little further from the closet each day until she reached Plank 9.

She began at Plank 1, hands planted firmly on the wooden floor. Then Plank 2, then Plank 3. Every day, I heard her say: Plank 9, that's where I need to get. I loved that image. We all have a Plank 9-something just beyond reach, pulling us forward.

That summer, I watched her fall, try again, find balance. And I realized: my Plank 9 was this album. For two years, it was my direction, my challenge, my quiet push forward. Plank 9 is never the end. It's where we lean into the unknown, steady ourselves, and keep going."-Relative Pitch

The serpent is a low-pitched early wind instrument in the lip-reed family, developed in the Renaissance era. It has a trombone-like mouthpiece, with six tone holes arranged in two groups of three fingered by each hand. It is named for its long, conical bore bent into a snakelike shape, and unlike most brass instruments is made from wood with an outer covering of leather or parchment. A distant ancestor of the tuba, the serpent is related to the cornett and was used for bass parts from the 17th to the early 19th centuries.[4]

In the early 19th century, keys were added to improve intonation, and several upright variants were developed and used, until they were superseded first by the ophicleide and ultimately by the valved tuba. After almost entirely disappearing from orchestras, the serpent experienced a renewed interest in historically informed performance practice in the mid-20th century. Several contemporary works have been commissioned and composed, and serpents are again made by a small number of contemporary manufacturers. The sound or timbre of a serpent is somewhere between a bassoon and a euphonium, and it is typically played in a seated position, with the instrument resting upright between the player's knees.