UTOO
Composition for Chamber Ensemble and Sound Projection, 2004
The
structural basis of UTOO is a "field recording" of a subway ride on Berlin's subway line
U2. I transcribed specific frequencies and sonic textures within this
recording, such as screeching, rumbling, signal tones, loudspeaker announcements,
opening and closing doors, and asked the performers to resonate with them.
Throughout the rehearsal process, we searched for corresponding sound
colours, within the realms of instruments and playing techniques. In quasi-improvisational
run-thoughs, I experimented with various sound combinations of the instrumental
sounds and the underlying field recording and subsequently determined
the ultimate structural flow of UTOO. The nature of the subway
recording not only provided the formal disposition of the piece - the
subway ride from one station to the next also suggested sections of different
dynamic and instrumental properties, e.g. a solo percussion part, a trio
and a quartet section. Some subway stops within the recording also served
another function: they were transformed into "frozen" moments
- intermissions where the flow of the underlying recording was interrupted,
creating a quasi-static sound field - those "breaks" were cued
in and out by Ensemble Noamnesia's conductress, Rei Hotoda. |
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Published as part of the CD same difference, Gromoga Records, 2010. | |
Other instrumental compositions |