CONCEPT
The Non Standard Studies is a performative sound art project for a single solo performer, engaging the audience in non standard ways through a surprising and clever use of found objects, small instruments, and electronics.
The Non Standard Studies is a performative sound art project for a single solo performer, engaging the audience in non standard ways through a surprising and clever use of found objects, small instruments, and electronics.
The compositions themselves explore the sonic and visual vocabulary found of that which is used to perform them. Such things a small loudspeaker played with the palms of the hands to imitate the winder winds and flight of birds, a stacked megaphones to trick the audience into thinking the performer is flying to the moon, a set if punchcard driven music boxes that intwine in a metaphor of marriage, are all examples how the sonic and visual vocabulary of an object can be made to be truly expressive.
Non Standard Studies is as a whole is steeped in the traditions of sound art while embracing the visual aesthetics and physical engagement of performance art. The program, seduces both eye and ear with a bouquet of interacting sounds, images, and movements.
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PROGRAM
Erratum (6 min)
for a small mouthed loadspeaker and an audio recording.
Aria (7 min)
for a water glass, a violin bow, diverse mallets, and a sinus tone generator
Birds of Snow (6 min)
for a binaural microphone, a handheld loudspeaker, and an audio recording
La Marriage (8 min)
for two music boxes and two six meter punch cards (with guest)
Three Non Standard Studies (16 min)
for a multitude of found objects, a small turntable, and sound effect records
The Metamorphosis of Narcissus and the Sobbing of Echo (11 min)
for a binaural microphone, cymbals, water or flame, and a tape recorder
The Magic Trick (4 min)
for a set of megaphones, a bugle, and a disguised performer
NOTES
Erratum
For a small loudspeaker, a performer, and fixed media
The piece, written for three voices, is presented as an interactive installation which may be ‘played’ in performance. The composition uses materials from Duchamp’s ‘Erratum Musical included in the Green Box published in 1934. The work was composed for three generated voice and a compositional process in which notes were chosen in an irrational manner and then orchestrated inn a rational manner was applied. For that which the voices sing, a select group of syllables were freely chosen from the definition of "to print" for reasons of color and used inc a cyclic manner to provide each of the three voices with a sensitively chosen, but nonsensical "libretto" that reflects the title of the work. The work is performed using a single small loudspeaker placed in the mouth of the performer, warming the sound and adding a certain "human touch" to it as it plays through the loudspeaker.
Aria for a Glass and a Sinus Tone
for a water glass, a violin bow, diverse mallets, and a sinus tone generator
The Aria for a Glass is a work based on text fragments uttered by patients at Ospedale Psichiatrico di Volterra , an Italian asylum coined as “the place of no return”. was once home to 6,000 patients sent for ‘treatment’ and then never allowed to leave. The fragments are alchemic ramblings between an imagined reality and each of the gestures made by the performer sound out the syllables of the fragments and the glass becomes the voices which sing each of the vowels contained in the text fragments and remind one of desperation of those in a place of no return.
The Metamorphosis of Narcissus and the Sobbing of Echo
for a binaural microphone, a Turkish cymbal, live flames, and a tape recorder
The piece is created for prepared cymbals, a violin bow, live electronics, and pre recorded tape. A pair of brilliant sounding, Turkish cymbals, which are held inverted just below the face during the performance, is used as a metaphor of the pool where Narcissus saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it and sealed the fate for his beloved Echo. The actual reflecting pool is created inside the cymbal’s hollow by filling it with a small amount of water. The reflections and echoes of the work mimic Narcissus’ fate brought about by his inability to release himself from the beauty of his reflection. The cymbals are played with a bow and the timbre of the sounds slowly change as the water ebbs and flows to and from the ridge of the cymbal and as the the echoes of echoes die down, the music become reminiscent of the sorrows of a sobbing Echo.
Three Non Standard Studies
For a multitude of found objects, a small turntable, and sound effect records
The piece was created to be performed on small instruments and found objects ranging from cheap whistles to portable old style record players. It is music based on a system of measurements incorporating randomness brought about by superimpositions that provided for a series of intersections that determine what is to be played and when and how it should be played. These system can be coined as a “standard” used in a compositional and understood by the musical inclined to be (irrational) etudes for composing music. The piece consists of nine relative parts which can be played in any directional, upside down, or even upside down and backwards. The hoc-it counterpoint of the work, combined with the colourful orchestration, let the listener trace the outlines of “Klangenfabrenmelodie” woven between intertwining voices. The work is preserved as a score on clear plastic folia, linking itself to the traditional use of this notational medium by a large number of Avant Garde artists in the 20th Century which includes John Cage and Francesco Evangelist.
The Magic Trick (4 min)
for a set of megaphones, a bugle, and a disguised performer
This work is a simple sound art piece with performative character for megaphones and a bugle. The work takes the sonic form on of a flight to the moon. There is a start, a flight, and of course a landing. A series of over powering rocket stages are created through the a clever combination of sounds from a bugle amplified and modulated by megaphones. To bring attention to history of space flight and the ability to manage in the imagination, a use of requisites is used that transform the performer into those who were shot into space without return and who - we hope- were transformed into moon beings and lived on in glory 384,400 km away from earth.
La Marriage (optional)
for two music boxes and two six meter punch cards
A composition for two mechanical music boxes that run on punch cards. It was music was created using a computer program based around Marcel Duchamp’s mechanical apparatus using five wagons, a large funnel, and a set of numbered balls that was used to compose music phrases. Unlike the results obtained by Duchamp, the computer program employed for Le Marriage was not only used to select tones from a given collection and bring them into a readable score, but also to provide the composition with a sense of harmony and progression, which would be akin to a marriage filled memories that come in diverse shades and colors as time passes. In end effect, a performance of the work not only offers the audience a sensuous work for two music boxes , but also offers the audience an experience from the realm of performance- or music theatre as an ever growing paper sculpture emerges from the turning of the cranks of the music boxes.
_____
Technical Requirements
.
Space:
Any space that is acoustically suited for a concert of music, which has both seating and stage area.
Lighting:
Simple lighting is needed to light the stage area and to offer a quite and intimate atmosphere to the performance.
Equipment:
The performance is self contained but a some items are needed for the
performance to take place
1 * In house amplification system with mixer (min 6 channels), loudspeakers (min stereo), and stage connecting cables
2 * Microphone Stands with Boom Arms
2 * Small Tables .75 * 1.5 Meters +/-
3 * Chairs (no arms if possible)
4 * Music Stands
Assistance:
A single person is needed to help set up and to sit and the house mixer to control levels.
Note:
The program is for a single performer and all of the equipment used by the performer including instruments packs into a single suitcase. This makes it practicle for both sides; the performer has what he needs to perform, and the house has the very simple task of just being given audio leads from the stage to plug into the main amp system.
________
PROGRAM
Erratum (6 min)
for a small mouthed loadspeaker and an audio recording.
Aria (7 min)
for a water glass, a violin bow, diverse mallets, and a sinus tone generator
Birds of Snow (6 min)
for a binaural microphone, a handheld loudspeaker, and an audio recording
La Marriage (8 min)
for two music boxes and two six meter punch cards (with guest)
Three Non Standard Studies (16 min)
for a multitude of found objects, a small turntable, and sound effect records
The Metamorphosis of Narcissus and the Sobbing of Echo (11 min)
for a binaural microphone, cymbals, water or flame, and a tape recorder
The Magic Trick (4 min)
for a set of megaphones, a bugle, and a disguised performer
_____
Erratum
For a small loudspeaker, a performer, and fixed media
The piece, written for three voices, is presented as an interactive installation which may be ‘played’ in performance. The composition uses materials from Duchamp’s ‘Erratum Musical included in the Green Box published in 1934. The work was composed for three generated voice and a compositional process in which notes were chosen in an irrational manner and then orchestrated inn a rational manner was applied. For that which the voices sing, a select group of syllables were freely chosen from the definition of "to print" for reasons of color and used inc a cyclic manner to provide each of the three voices with a sensitively chosen, but nonsensical "libretto" that reflects the title of the work. The work is performed using a single small loudspeaker placed in the mouth of the performer, warming the sound and adding a certain "human touch" to it as it plays through the loudspeaker.
Aria for a Glass and a Sinus Tone
for a water glass, a violin bow, diverse mallets, and a sinus tone generator
The Aria for a Glass is a work based on text fragments uttered by patients at Ospedale Psichiatrico di Volterra , an Italian asylum coined as “the place of no return”. was once home to 6,000 patients sent for ‘treatment’ and then never allowed to leave. The fragments are alchemic ramblings between an imagined reality and each of the gestures made by the performer sound out the syllables of the fragments and the glass becomes the voices which sing each of the vowels contained in the text fragments and remind one of desperation of those in a place of no return.
The Metamorphosis of Narcissus and the Sobbing of Echo
for a binaural microphone, a Turkish cymbal, live flames, and a tape recorder
The piece is created for prepared cymbals, a violin bow, live electronics, and pre recorded tape. A pair of brilliant sounding, Turkish cymbals, which are held inverted just below the face during the performance, is used as a metaphor of the pool where Narcissus saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it and sealed the fate for his beloved Echo. The actual reflecting pool is created inside the cymbal’s hollow by filling it with a small amount of water. The reflections and echoes of the work mimic Narcissus’ fate brought about by his inability to release himself from the beauty of his reflection. The cymbals are played with a bow and the timbre of the sounds slowly change as the water ebbs and flows to and from the ridge of the cymbal and as the the echoes of echoes die down, the music become reminiscent of the sorrows of a sobbing Echo.
Three Non Standard Studies
For a multitude of found objects, a small turntable, and sound effect records
The piece was created to be performed on small instruments and found objects ranging from cheap whistles to portable old style record players. It is music based on a system of measurements incorporating randomness brought about by superimpositions that provided for a series of intersections that determine what is to be played and when and how it should be played. These system can be coined as a “standard” used in a compositional and understood by the musical inclined to be (irrational) etudes for composing music. The piece consists of nine relative parts which can be played in any directional, upside down, or even upside down and backwards. The hoc-it counterpoint of the work, combined with the colourful orchestration, let the listener trace the outlines of “Klangenfabrenmelodie” woven between intertwining voices. The work is preserved as a score on clear plastic folia, linking itself to the traditional use of this notational medium by a large number of Avant Garde artists in the 20th Century which includes John Cage and Francesco Evangelist.
The Magic Trick (4 min)
for a set of megaphones, a bugle, and a disguised performer
This work is a simple sound art piece with performative character for megaphones and a bugle. The work takes the sonic form on of a flight to the moon. There is a start, a flight, and of course a landing. A series of over powering rocket stages are created through the a clever combination of sounds from a bugle amplified and modulated by megaphones. To bring attention to history of space flight and the ability to manage in the imagination, a use of requisites is used that transform the performer into those who were shot into space without return and who - we hope- were transformed into moon beings and lived on in glory 384,400 km away from earth.
La Marriage (optional)
for two music boxes and two six meter punch cards
A composition for two mechanical music boxes that run on punch cards. It was music was created using a computer program based around Marcel Duchamp’s mechanical apparatus using five wagons, a large funnel, and a set of numbered balls that was used to compose music phrases. Unlike the results obtained by Duchamp, the computer program employed for Le Marriage was not only used to select tones from a given collection and bring them into a readable score, but also to provide the composition with a sense of harmony and progression, which would be akin to a marriage filled memories that come in diverse shades and colors as time passes. In end effect, a performance of the work not only offers the audience a sensuous work for two music boxes , but also offers the audience an experience from the realm of performance- or music theatre as an ever growing paper sculpture emerges from the turning of the cranks of the music boxes.
_____
Technical Requirements
.
Space:
Any space that is acoustically suited for a concert of music, which has both seating and stage area.
Lighting:
Simple lighting is needed to light the stage area and to offer a quite and intimate atmosphere to the performance.
Equipment:
The performance is self contained but a some items are needed for the
performance to take place
1 * In house amplification system with mixer (min 6 channels), loudspeakers (min stereo), and stage connecting cables
2 * Microphone Stands with Boom Arms
2 * Small Tables .75 * 1.5 Meters +/-
3 * Chairs (no arms if possible)
4 * Music Stands
Assistance:
A single person is needed to help set up and to sit and the house mixer to control levels.
Note:
The program is for a single performer and all of the equipment used by the performer including instruments packs into a single suitcase. This makes it practicle for both sides; the performer has what he needs to perform, and the house has the very simple task of just being given audio leads from the stage to plug into the main amp system.