Chord
(2007)

for two choreographed instruments and two computer instruments // duration: indeterminate

• Listen
•
• Idea
•
• Instructions
•
• Score
•
• Max/MSP Patch

Listen .mp3





Idea

Chord is an exploration of how people/performers communicate. The composition defines a sound space that informs how two musicians can interact. Using the geometry of a circle, musical trajectories are inscribed within the space. As the performers walk around the circle over the course of the performance, encompassing the audience, these musical trajectories inform the duration, pitch range, dynamics, and timbre of the notes that are played.

Tension arises between the straightforward, lifeless computer performance and the infinitely nuanced modes of communication arising between performers. The tension between the sounds coming from the 8 loudspeakers, which also encompass the audience, and the sounds coming from the acoustic instruments, highlights how each source has a different relationship with the sound space. The live electronics define the musical trajectories that characterize the space, while the musicians engage the space and transcend it by creating musical connections (chords) across the circle.




Instructions

Choreography:

Performers 1 and 2 begin the piece by standing at location I with their backs to the audience. The performers progress around the edge of a circle, which encompasses the audience. The performers keep their backs to the audience (instruments facing away from the audience) throughout the duration of the piece. The piece ends as the performers arrive back at location I.

Musical Trajectories:

As the two performers move around the circle, they trade off notes, listening, responding, and activating each other. Unless silence is being used to buffer long durations of inharmonic sound (padding key-clicks with silence), the performers should pass notes back and forth fluidly.

The locations I, II, III, and IV outline musical trajectories that inform the duration and pitches of notes that are to be played at any given point in the piece. Each location signifies the arrival of the extreme values for each trajectory. The bluish-purple colored square inscribed within the circle depicts these trajectories.

The locations A, B, C, and D outline musical trajectories that inform the timbre and dynamics of notes that are to be played at any given point in the piece. Each location signifies the arrival of the extreme values for each trajectory. The greenish colored square inscribed within the circle depicts these trajectories.

Computer Instruments:

The computer instruments should begin playing when the live performers begin the piece. The computer should be performed live by moving the cursor along the circle defined in the two-dimensional interpolation space, in correspondence with the positions of performers 1 and 2 within the actual space. The computer instruments should stop playing when the live performers finish the piece (returning to location I).




Score .pdf




Max/MSP Patch

Thanks to Charlie DeTar for COLORBLOBS!