INTERVAL 4.2 Juraj Kojs Blog #2

Lathyrus

Lathyrus, score page

Hi there: I would like to discuss some music parameters of the pieces that will be presented in our In One program. For example, what is the formal organization of these works? Is there anything they share? How do they differ? While all the compositions utilize some cutting edge technologies, some tackle aspects of classical formal models and some venture more adventurous music architectures.Spencer Topel’s Violine is developed through three different segments from J.S. Bach's Chaconne, suggesting postmodern re-contextualization. But what of Bach and Topel is really heard? Mmmm: come and check it out. Jorge Variego’s Mimic is based on a gradual role exchange between the clarinet and joystick instrument, expanding the duet paradigm in multiple parts. My own At and Across is structured as a trajectory of twelve parts each featuring particular performative actions such as hitting, bowing, shaking and plucking. Chikashi’s Black Vox also consists of multiple sections, 30 to be precise! Each of them is approximately 14 seconds long. While the sections manifest their unique identities, Chikashi argues that “it is very hard for the listener to grasp sections as solid blocks like in Beethoven's sonata because the sonorities of the sections are interpolated very smoothly.” The form of Paula Matthusen’s lathyrus is organic: literally. It takes on the principles of self-organization, often observed in nature (and more recently urban environments). Do you remember Steve Johnson’s book Emergence?  While the author connects ant colonies with brains, cities and software, Matthusen’s lathyrus buzzes away with its own emerging properties. The performers collectively strategize what musical paths to take depending on their desirability and viability! Some are playful, some are provocative and other are just plain dangerous. “Continue crescendo until all speakers explode” is one of the possibilities that hopefully the players will reroute in our concert!How do other music parameters manifest in these compositions?Spencer Topel writes about his Violine in terms of “an auditory mixture” which engages timbrally differentiated events. The composition presents a stream of unsettling timbral transformations while excavating the “latent structure” in the Bach’s Chaconne recording of which was used as a sound source. In the end, however, it is a compromise between the designed system and compositional taste that is presented to the listener, Spencer claims. For Jorge Variego, there is nothing hidden between the clarinet and joystick instrument in his Mimic. Both of the instruments have access to the same bank of music parameters for sound production and control. They fight and reconcile in an unusual sonic marriage. What you can do, I can do better!In my At and Across, interactions between the physical and cyberbells were pre-composed and based on particular melodic and harmonic plans. As the piece is dedicated to the memory of my late grandfather, the composition’s melodics are derived from his favorite Slovak folk song “Sadla muska na konarik” (“A little fly landed on a little twig”). Re-composed segments of the song appear in both physical and cyberbell parts. Each section of the composition is built around a fragment from the song. Depending on the performance mode and rhythmic complexity, these fragments may not be necessarily recognizable. Harmonic and dynamic structures mirror and accentuate the spectral relationships between the partials of J.C. Risset’s additive synthesis bells.Transformations of music parameters are pre-composed in Chikashi Miyama’s Black Vox via 280 automated processes! Individual sections demonstrate simultaneous access to a multitude of sonic parameters such as frequency, amplitude, panning, modulation, filtering, playback head location, coefficients for chaos generator to name a few.  The performer reaches (literally with his hand) to this musical well with varying degrees of intensity and speed.Paula Matthusen’s lathyrus features eight performers operating one of the following sample banks at the time: drones, field recordings, instrumental samples and rhythmic sounds. Individual performers select a particular sound from the bank, guaranteeing a varied coherence of the section and dynamically controlling the volume, speed and various processing units such as filtering, distortion and reverb of the sample. Such parametrical control results in pitch, texture and density alterations. While the directions are prescribed in the score, each performer makes their decision based on their taste and listening judgment. You got it: there is a certain improvisation aspect to lathyrus.In my next and last blog entry, I will discuss the role of improvisation elements, as well as the importance of physical gestures and scoring methods in INTERVAL 4.2's programmed pieces. Stay tuned!