Posts Tagged ‘ Music

Recording: David Collins and Greg Surges @ KSE 10-30-2009

Here are two recordings of improvisations by David Collins and myself.

Recordings were made on a Tascam DR-07, with just a tiny bit of EQ after the fact.

KSE-10-30-2009 One

KSE-10-30-2009 Two

Why independent composers should release on netlabels.

Over the summer, I released two albums of my work with two European netlabels. Solid State, a collection of tape music, live electro-acoustic music, and acoustic chamber music, was released on Petcord, while Untitled, 2006 – 2009, a selection of recordings made with my custom software instruments, was released on Digitalbiotope.

I’ve had almost 1,500 downloads of “Solid State” alone, according to Archive.org. (Who knows, that number may be higher in reality… these are both Creative Commons licensed works, so copying and sharing is encourage.) I cannot think of a better way for a young, independent composer to gain a bit of exposure. Petcord also run a streaming internet radio station, Leftob, so anything they release (or anything else they find and enjoy) is given some play on the station. It’s a great way to get your music out to some new listeners, who might be tuning in because of another artists work that they enjoy.

It can be difficult, but it’s important to find a netlabel who has released similar music to yours. Petcord’s previous releases were not necessarily focused on the same things as mine, but Olliver, one of the operators, was quite interested and totally positive about putting my music out.

As you can see in some posts below, my releases have literally gotten global attention, from Hungary, to Estonia, and Duke University.

I’m thinking next about some netlabel-specific music releases, possibly consisting of a piece of software rather than a recording. More here when that happens.

A Recent Music Hero

Here’s a link to an Estonian blog who were nice enough to review my Petcord release Solid State. The Google translation was not so good, but it appears to have earned an 8.2 (out of 10?).

Lilypond

I’ve been using GNU Lilypond to notate my latest stuff. These are examples from the flute/cello duo I’m working on.

Screen shot 2009-10-06 at 3.39.00 PM

Looks pretty good, and the syntax isn’t too hard either. Anyway, this is some of the flute part.

New Score Images

While I’m getting this going:

Some images from a piece I’ve just finished, currently untitled.

A single gesture.
For a trio of unspecified instruments. The box at the beginning of each line indicates that the performer should begin playing after hearing a specific type of event.
From the score:
The location of the circle(s) indicates an event which the player should listen for before beginning their next gesture. The beginning of the next gesture should correspond as closely as possible with the ending of the previous, listened-for, gesture. Circle placement is read as follows: the placement left to right inside the box indicates duration of the event, left being a short event, right being a long event. Bottom to top indicates pitch, low to high. For example, a circle in the bottom left corner of a box indicates a short, low event, and a circle in the upper right corner indicates a high, long event.
A pair of gestures.
I’m trying to create a situation where each performer is reacting to the sounds the others produce, without there being a set form or outcome to the piece.
“Inevitably, there will come a situation in which all three performers are waiting for events which will not occur. This is the desired outcome of the piece, and should not be avoided or overcome through creative misinterpretation of heard events or environmental sounds. When this point is reached, the performers should continue sounding their current events until it is certain that the piece can progress no further, at least 30 seconds.”
I’ve been rehearsing the piece with David Collins and Steve Schlei, all three using live electronics – hopefully recording it soon.

 

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