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"Mixing it up"

MUCO 342's class concert #2 was held April 11th in the Wirth Opera Studio at 8pm.


"low altitudes" - marie-claire saindon                                   
 jane lazarovic , double-bass

This piece takes advantage of the low C extension on the double-bass. in fact , there is a low C drone throughout the whole piece. My goal was to experiment with the listener's time conception; thogh the drone is ever present for five minutes straight , I wanted to make sure it didn't feel like it dragged on.

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"reciprocal altruism" - kai chen                                   
 luke fowlie , guitar

The tape part of this composition is a improvisation by Luke Fowlie based on a scale I wrote out. Reciprocal Altruism is a form of altruism in which one organism provides a benefit to another in the expectation of future reciprocation. It can also refer this term with vampire bat.

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"impressions" - jake woszczyk                                   
 james seeley , alto saxophone

Basically in this composition the underlying themes are two "musical realms"; one very structured and the other quite chaotic. To build these realms, I felt it was essential to take material from both themes and layer them to emphasize which theme has taken presence. For example, a very rhythmic repeated pattern uses melodic material from an improvised jazzy lick. The rythm is created by random key clicks extracted from that very jazzy lick. The piece is in two parts laying out all thematic material and both worlds are superimposed in full near the end. The role of the solo saxophone is to touch upon both rhealms either in harmony with the realms or not. All material was used strictly from a 20 minute recording session, the only sounds used were of the saxophone.

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"black damp" - lee parkin                                   
 julie heikel , french horn

Also known as "stythe", "black damp" is a mining term referring to a type of gas composed of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. It is usually found in coal mines that have poor ventilation and is one of the leading causes of death in mines around the world. The aim of Black Damp for French horn and tape is to emulate this kind of mysterious, heavy atmosphere using some of the sounds that one might hear in an old abandoned mine. Note: The raw sounds used for the tape part are all sounds that can be produced by the french horn.

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"Dr. um" - daniel j. rutka                                   
 jan krejcar , piano

After trying desperately for weeks to think up a clever name for a piece written for drums , I finally came up with one. I called Andrew Stewart immediately and told him my idea, to which he replied, "I thought you had written your piece for piano". We laughed about it, and then I suddenly remembered that he was right. Convinced that I could concieve of an equally clever, more befitting title for my piece, I have since then spent all my time attempting to do so. After many sleepless nights, I have at last thought of the perfect title for a piece written for drums, I give you: "Dr. Um". I hope you will enjoy it.

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"drumfounded" - clive chang                                   
 andrew mullin , drum kit

Drumfounded takes sounds from the components of the standard drum kit in an interesting journey through time and space. Certain sections of the piece aim to blur the distinction between the performer and the electronics, while other sections explicitly juxtapose the two. Through the use of electronics and the cross-synthesis of drum and cymbol sounds, results that typically cannot be produced by a drum kit are made possible --- for example, sustained pitches and surging decays. Don't be surprised if you find yourself "drumfounded" by the endless possibilities...

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"a short piece for saxophone and cd" - alec hall                                   
 adam kinner , tenor sax

Like much of the music I have written so far, this work is essentially un-programmatic. It conceals no metaphor and strives not for allegory. It is instead a rather simple piece of music in which my primary focus was putting my little finger into the world of spectral composition, as it were. The majority of the digial audio processing was completed in Audiosculpt where one may complete quick and relatively painless modifications to the spectral components of a sound. The pitch material in the music is entirely free, however, there is a strong emphasis on the blurring of harmony and timbre; an important element in spetral composition. Many other spectral techniques go far beyond the scope of the assignment and likewise the time I had to compose it. That being said, enjoy the music for what it is; a somewhat hackneyed first attempt in what remains a fascinating school of thought.

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untitled work - chris goddard                                  
 marie-claire saindon  , violin

When writing an electroacoustic work with the intention of deriving sounds from the solo instument itself, the violin is perhaps an easy choice. Few instuments have been exploited further by composers for their special effects than this instument, and I tried to incorporate some of these in balance between the soloist and the accompanying electronics. Microtonal clusters and pitched material flank an inner section; which, in itself, becomes further and further removed from an identifiable source.

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"phantasiestück" - donald hunt                                   
 jake woszczyk , clarinet

The clarinet produces a storm wind that shrouds from the listener a secret message which can be decoded only by himself and the electronics. The electronics receive this message and decipher it. The clarinet and the electronics are now delighted that they can spend the course of this short dialogue making references and inside jokes, none of which we understand...yet.

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"ps:" - erick flores                                   
 rachel krehm , soprano

PS: illustrates the power of fantasy where even reality is the result of ones imagination. It's set between two virtual worlds, the "real world" and the "inner world". PS: is a journey into fantasy and a stuggle confronting reality.

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