Music

This piece explores how contrasts can be created between two pianos. It was written before I became enticed by the possibilities of computer processing live instruments.

Mar 20, 2011

This was my first finished piece using Max-fts. It explores the role of the voice in singing and the space between intelligibility and musicality. Much of the computer part consists of assembling melodic and phonetic patterns by playing back short (<600msec) pre-recorded samples. These samples are replaced towards the end of the piece with live input from the singer.

Mar 20, 2011

This piece was written in collaboration with choreographer Adele Levi, and performed by Clive Andrews, Katherine Nietrzebka, Maria Ramos, and John O’Hara. The development of motion-tracking techniques in SoftVNS was supported by a grant by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Mar 20, 2011

Interact I was written for flutist Elizabeth McNutt. The score consists of three large sheets, all of which are visible to the flutist in performance. The flutist chooses materials to play according to some simple rules in response to the computer. The computer follows the pitches of the flute, determining what part of the score the performer is playing from.Changes in processing are made according to that determination. Thus, the flutist shapes the piece in performance. Score following techniques developed for this piece were further enhanced by John Lawter, who developed an external object for Max/MSP.

Mar 20, 2011

This piece was created for my own performance, but was also performed by Maurizio Grandinetti in the Śląskie Dni Muzyki Współczesnej. It is for improvised electric guitar performance with four channels of computer processing. Trajectories in processing guide the improvisation through various stages.

Mar 20, 2011

In 1998, Mark Menzies asked me to write a piece for violin and computer that somehow captured the spirit of the blues. A couple of years later, when my father died, the idea came back to me. My father was a big fan of early ‘downhome’ blues, so the piece ended up being an amalgam of elements of downhome blues and memories of my father. Besides direct references to early blues made through sample modulation, oblique references are made by a certain amount of flamboyancy, virtuosity, and quirkiness.

Mar 20, 2011

This piece for recorder and computer is the second to use “Open-Form Score Following”. The score has different sections and the player can traverse the score in any direction. The computer determines where in the score the player is performing from using pitch-tracking. Sound-file playback and effects on the instrument are controlled by this determination.

Mar 20, 2011

I worked with the Danish poet Jess Ornsbo on setting four of his poems for the voice/guitar duo ArtOnStage. There is a kind of psycho-drama quality that would be further exploited in my next piece for ArtOnStage “Picasso & Cronhamer”.

Mar 20, 2011

This piece was written for ArtOnStage: Anne-Mette Skovbjerg - guitar and Christina Dahl - voice. The text, and inspiration for the theme came from Janus Kodal. I wanted to create a musical theater, where Anne-Mette and Christina could perform as Picasso or Cronhamer. The score is fully written, with stage directions. I embraced the opportunity to let my modernist flag fly, remembering the Boulez quote:

Mar 19, 2011