It’s been exactly one month since my last posting. In this time the score has undergone several revisions. I think I’ve caught most of the errors. I’ve also created a Max/MSP patch to run the sound-files. However, the live processing still needs to be completed. Today I started extracting parts. This will probably take several weeks. Here’s a sample: page 1 for flute 2/piccolo.

The score is completed! At least almost, there will be small changes; there always are. The next step is to create a patch with Max/MSP to run the sound files for the performance. This should take a few weeks. After this the parts will be created, and the piece will be done.

Here are two photos of the printed score (version 1, Sept 26, 2010)

Still hard at work on this piece. University is back in session so time to post blogs like this is at a premium. The score is more-or-less complete, however, the soundtrack is taking a while to flush out. Currently there are just over 400 sound-files, a number that is bound to increase in the next month or so. I’m continuing on the soundtrack for the third movement this weekend.

A wood frog with a membrane and fishing wire tied to a stick. I found it at a market in Hawai’i. It makes the best swirling sound... ever! This will surely make it into the soundtrack of the third movement.

Today I start on the soundscape for the third movement, “Rotations”. The opening 3 or 4 minutes will be processed live. The winds perform aeolian (breathy, airy) sounds on elaborate chromatic passages. The computer will process these sounds, creating resonances of the effect. What processes I will use remains undecided – there are almost limitless options; filters, reverbs and granular transformations are only a few of the possibilities. I would like to capture certain frequencies and send them to the speakers, elongated, spurious and in rotation, quickly moving throughout the space. To assist my work I have extracted a winds-only mockup – using sounds from IRCAM’s sound collection on the UVI workstation – and will use this file to work with the processing through Max/MSP. I recorded myself playing this section on the flute to assist as well.

Sample 1 is myself playing the airy sounds on the flute. It is layered a few times to create the effect of multiple instruments. I will post another version at some point with the processing. This is without any processing.



Score sample (PDF opens in new window)

This movement will also have copious sounds triggered at precise moments. The process is similar to the second movement (see earlier post “Dis-shovel’d”). I create a midi mock-up of the score. From this I add sound files at specific moments in Digital Performer.

Sample 2 is a midi mock-up of the section that occurs immediately following the airy, processed opening. It is meant to be in stark contrast to the opening. There will be multiple sound files playing throughout. These have not been created yet.



Score sample (PDF opens in new window)

Later in the score there is a moment that I am particularly fond of. A slow meandering line builds and is juxtaposed with a solo violin that takes us on some misadventures in 5/8 and other asymmetric time signatures before reaching maximum density.

Maximum density (PDF opens in new window)

After this I return to similar material as the opening, but this time, rather than wind turbines, we will hear water.

Today I am going through the entire work and organizing the percussion. Percussion instruments are selected for their use in textures and rhythms. Logistics, such as how many, what kinds, where and when they will be used, and how a percussionist might arrange them comes later in the work. At this point in the process it becomes crucial to take stock of what I’ve used, where I’ve used them and how practical the arrangement is for the percussionist. I may discover certain instruments that have been underused, and could be put to use in another movement, or instruments that are superfluous and perhaps serve no practical purpose, such as the Tom-toms, which I removed from the score today.

Here is the current list of percussion instruments:

Pitched

Timpani (suggested 32-30 inch (D to A) 26-25 inch (Bb to F) , 23 inch (D to A high)
Tubular Bells (only need 5 pitches: D#4, F#4. A#4, B4, D#5)
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Non pitched

Bass drum
Concert cymbals
Hi-hat
Ratchet
Snare drum
Suspended cymbal
Tambourine
Temple blocks, wood or plastic
Water gong (also suspended and used without water)

Miscellaneous

Bass bow for cymbals and vibraphone
Brushes for Hi-hat
Bucket of water for the water gong
Metal rod to scrape the sus. cymbal
Usual assortment of mallets

I’ve almost completed movement 2. I’ve added the 200+ cues for the sound files, including descriptions of each file, and other information as necessary.

Click here for a score sample of the first 5 pages of movement 2. PDF opens in a new window.

Listen to a hybrid mock-up: midi orchestra with the computer sound files:

For the past nine days I’ve worked solidly on the soundscape of the second movement. A good portion of it is completed. There are over 200 sound-files (for this movement alone) that will be activated, on cue, during the live performance. A majority of the sounds are created from shoveling rocks in my backyard. Other sounds come from train whistles, band saws, the hum of electric lights, water and many synthesized sounds.

Here is a screen shot from this morning; working with sound-files in Digital Performer. Click for a larger image.



Here is a sample of the first 30 seconds of the soundscape. You’ll hear the sound of shoveling, at first just the hard and piercing impact of the blade. Granularized sounds of the rocks gradually emerge. At the end of this short sequence a train whistle is heard, followed by clacking sounds. In this movement the sounds of rocks (coal) and trains (coal carts and coal transportation) become the backdrop for the orchestra.

Here are some photographs relating to the soundscape of this work. Click for larger images. (Images open in a new window)


Oil processing plant and oil rig in Dartmouth, NS


Power plant at Acadia University and wind turbines in Pubnico, NS


Derelict wind turbines


Tidal Generator in Annapolis Royal

It has been almost two months since my last posting. During this time I’ve taken a much needed holiday, had a premiere of my Quartet for Low Brass, and have almost completed another project, Tidelines Installation. Throughout this time, however, I’ve continued to work on the symphony. The four movements have now been mostly composed, and orchestrated, and the work is taking real shape. I’ll post some score samples in subsequent postings and will describe in more detail each movement. Here are the titles of each movement – with approximate durations shown in brackets.

I Highways (7:30)
II Dis-shovel’d (8:00)
III Rotations (10:00)
IV Crude (10:00)

For the next few months I’ll be working on the electronic soundscape. As you can read in earlier postings, sounds are created in several ways: recorded in the field, in my studio, electronically in the computer, or a combination of all three. The sounds will be activated at precise moments, indicated in the score, and in tandem with the instruments. I predict the electronics taking from August until October to complete. During this time the notated score will undergo revisions and additions to accommodate the electronics. By November or December the work should be mostly complete. The last stage will be to create a program in Max/MSP (cycling74.com) to control the sound-files and live processing. For the curious, I’ll be creating the soundscape in Digital Performer. Edited “Soundbites” are placed in stems (or multiple layers) and then extracted as individual files that are overlapped as the music is played.

The image below is the interface for Digital Performer. On the left you can see multiple channels, or stems. In this example (this is from a different project) they are labelled according to the channels they sound out of. There are 4 channels; music 1/2 are channels 1 and 2 (left and right front), music 2/3 are channels 2 and 3 (right front and left back), and so on. At the top of the image is the counter and other options such as the fidelity of the sound files. In this case they are CD quality 44.1 kHz and 16 Bit. The various coloured blocks are the sound-files themselves. The multiple lines are dynamic (volume) and panning information.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Here is a small sampling of sound-files that I've been experimenting with:

1) Boiling Water

2) Squeezed Ketchup

3) Shoveling Rocks

4) Highway Traffic


I have also been working on the third movement. The sound-world for this will include many non-traditional techniques to mimic the "rotationally" inspired soundscape. It will begin with the wind turbine, sweeping around the hall, then the winds and strings echo this gesture. From there I have most of the string part roughed out and am starting to work on the winds, percussion and even more important, the soundscape.

I like the title: Symphony No. 1 – Transient Energies. I was leery of using the word "Symphony" because of the anachronistic connotations it conjures; sonata allegro form, certain key structures, a trio or variation form, the slow movement and of course the vivace finale. However, this work will have some references to these structures. The first movement will be slow and melancholic. The second is, in its own way, a kind of the sonata-allegro; it's fast and has a couple of themes plus a development, albeit a more through composed and improvisatory kind. The length is also substantial, at 30 plus minutes. SO for these reasons, and others I haven't discussed here, I feel it absolutely appropriate to title this a Symphony. I do like the fact that the sub-title, "Transient Energies" is most definitely not worn and refers specifically to the state of unrest that energy is constantly in.

This brings me to the third movement that will be in a free and quasi variation form. I've been working on various gestures in the strings to accompany the swirling sounds in the electronics. Here is an image of some variations on Doppler effects that might make there way into this movement. Click below for a larger image. This is a screen shot from Sibelius, the music notation program.

Today has been slow going. I'm working on some very preliminary sketches of the third movement. It will probably open with the sound of a wind turbine, spatialized through the hall. The wind instruments will pick this up, in all likelihood mimicking the wind sounds. If convolution is going to play a role, this will be where it happens. Right now I'm (obviously writing this, but) thinking about different types of wind sounds that can be produced by instruments in the orchestra. This is nothing new. I did similar work for my 2005 dissertation, The Winds of Winter. Flutes can do pretty amazing airy sounds. I'm also considering the title, perhaps along the lines of Transient Energies. I'll try it out for a while and see if it sticks.

I've been working with quadraphonic soundfiles in Digital Performer over the past number of days. It's quite straight forward, but a time consuming process especially as I prepare for the eventuality of needing a quadraphonic version, a stereo version, and, most-likely, a mono version.

The last movement is probably going to be called CRUDE, as in crude oil. Primordial gurgling sound comes to mind. This morning I recorded boiling water and the sounds of ketchup and salad dressing being squeezed out of the bottle. Lovely.

Today I'm back to square one, editing the first movement. However, the overall form of the work is taking shape. It is still in four movements. Here are my current thoughts on each movement:

(1) The first movement will have traffic sounds, accompanying the orchestra. There will be a general spatialization of the instruments, as I mentioned in an early blog. This is followed by a lyric cello solo, that eventually builds to a high point – accompanied by other instruments – before dying away again to reveal the traffic once more.

(2) The second movement is going to be non-stop action for 8 minutes. Accompanying this will be the sounds of shovels, train sounds and other sounds that one might associate with coal. I have an appointment to record the sound of the Windsor-Hantsport train in a few days, which I'm sure will make it into this soundscape.

(3) The third movement will open with the sound of a rotating wind turbine. Other rotational sounds will make their way into this movement. Water sounds will probably come later as we move from land to sea. However, I haven't made any sketches yet for this so plans are still fluid – pardon the pun! Live processing might be employed during this segment.

(4) The last movement will probably start with the sound of power generators, like the Acadia power plant. I'm envisioning sounds of household objects that use power being a part of this soundscape.

Having titles at a certain stage in the thought process can lead to greater cohesion, and I think I have a semblance of this. Here is a first stab at titles for individual movements: (1) Highways (2) Dis-shovel'd (3) Rotations (4) Crude. I'm still not sure what the overall title will be.

The piece has been on a bit of a hiatus while I've been re-orchestrating and reworking an older symphonic work, Aurora Dances. Now I need to apply for more funding. The deadline is fast approaching. I might get back to actual composing by next week!

I'm currently working on some sketches that use spatialization within the ensemble. I think it's pretty clear how this works, take a look at the 2 photographs below. The sound of traffic will accompany this section.

This morning I stood by Highway 101 just outside of Kentville, NS for about 20 minutes and recorded the sound of passing traffic. Vehicles in general are the one sound that permeates all of my recordings. They're also one of the main users of gasoline and therefore fit nicely into this new soundscape. Who said composing isn't dangerous?! I'm not sure how often I would want to stand next to the highway like this.

Today I decided to try some loops. One of my favourite sounds was a lower pitch version of buzzing electrical sound I recorded using my hydrophone. The sound was processed using some convolution reverb and then imported into a dj program where it was slowed down, and then looped against itself, but in reverse. The result is an interesting out of phase loop, think Steve Reich, but much slower.

I'm thinking about sounds associated with coal, which is why I was in my backyard the other day shoveling some rocks!

I find ecological sound fascinating. The rhythms, textures and harmonies of nature are impressive. There are endless variations, crystalline structures that branch out in all directions. Man-made sounds on the other hand can be overpowering, full of piercing frequencies and unpleasant, jolting rhythmic patterns. I'm envisioning that many of the sounds for this piece will be man-made. Sounds created through human energy consumption are quite varied. Ultimately I'll be searching for those sounds that have distinctive musical qualities – perhaps even anti-musical qualities! It will be hard to remove altogether the sense of a "cinema for the ears" but I would like, as much as possible, for this to be purely abstract music.

I find it fruitful to limit the soundworld I'm using and then skew source material to a point that it is no longer recognizable. Yesterday I recorded the sound of steam from an espresso maker – steam obviously being an ubiquitous energy that has been utilized well before the invention of electricity. Steam is also produced as a by-product of many sources of energy production and consumption. But does this all matter? Music can not tell us this. The important point here is that it makes a very cool sound! And by focusing in on this particular aspect of energy consumption/production I'm really only creating a scale, or a chord that becomes a part of the language of the work.