Verena and the UT Symphony Band gave a truly stellar performance of Bloom yesterday. In fact, the entire concert was superb - Damon Talley, the director of that group, has done a fantastic job with them this year.
Tonight, V and I head up to Baylor to hear Bob Reynolds guest conduct Alchemy in Silent Spaces: I the logic of all my dreams.. He's already done it with USC, and has it programmed for the National Collegiate Wind Ensemble concert in Carnegie on May 25th, and then again at Tanglewood this summer. I get the impression he's taken a liking to that movement of the work. :)
Also, John Adams is here in residence this week, with concerts of his music by the orchestra, new music ensemble, and the wind ensemble on three consecutive nights. I don't know exactly what I'll say to him besides the usual slobbering nerdy fan standby "I love your music!"
And lastly, the winds+electronics piece is slowing moving forward - the first movement is more than half finished. Perhaps considerably more - can't quite tell yet. The first minute or so is essentially a celesta and vibraphone duet. Very bright and shiny, as Newman would say.
Labels: Alchemy, Bloom, Bob Reynolds, John Adams, logic of all my dreams, Verena, WIndtronica
Last night I dreamt I heard the new piece I'm writing in its entirety in concert. Except that I was outside the hall. And the piece wasn't finished, so I'd stuck in a transcription of some of Pink Floyd's The Wall in the middle to fill up the unfinished, empty space. Amazingly, no one noticed, though I don't think I can get away with that in real life. Unfortunately, all I can remember from the dream are the Floyd bits. I guess I'll have to keep working on this piece the old-fashioned way. I actually made progress on the first movement tonight. I'm writing for Celesta for the first time, which is a fantastic instrument. In fact, in the piece's current incarnation, it's the only live instrument in the first minute of the piece...
Labels: Celesta, Pink Floyd, WIndtronica
I've been exploring software possibilities and trying to sort out what's easily do-able, what's possible but perhaps tricky, and what would be just a downright bad idea when it comes to the technological side of my next work: a consortium commission for a piece I've wanted to create for several years, which combines wind band and electronics to create music that is natural and necessary, not a gimmick. At the moment, as I mentioned, I'm laying the groundwork for what software and hardware I'll use, trying to keep it as robust and inexpensive as possible.
The last couple of days I've been playing with Ableton's Live, which I used a few years ago, and have always liked. My other main option is to use MOTU's Digital Performer. While I'm more familiar with the latter, and will probably use it to create the soundscapes and such, I'm leaning toward Live for the actual live performance. As you might tell from the name, it's geared for exactly that use.
After I get a handle on some of the physical/financial limitations of such a work, I'll start on the music itself. The orchestrational possibilities are daunting - I'm still having a hard time imagining how some of these timbres will mix (or not) with winds and percussion in a live, concert hall setting.
More details as I get deeper into it.
For those who find this sort of project interesting, this is a consortium commission, and I believe it's still open for more members to join. Please contact Bruce Moss at Bowling Green State University if you wish to join the consortium. Or, if you want more details about the scope of the project, you're also welcome to e-mail me, as always.
Labels: Band, Bandtronica, Electronics, WIndtronica