Sarah Nemtsov NUN V
for six instruments
[piccolo flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, percussion and sample keyboard] and electronics
[amplification, (effect) pedals and transducers]
Partitur
master processed on 04 04 2024
Sy. 9235/01
ISMN 979-0-2042-9235-6
Copyright © 2024 by G. Ricordi & Co. Bühnen- und Musikverlag GmbH, Berlin
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written for Ensemble Handwerk
„She can't be sure of anything, she says, but she suspects that he is the one who is sustaining her through this incomprehensible afterlife, this paradoxical state of conscious non-existence, which must and will comme to an end at some point, she feels, but as long as he is alive and still able to think about her, her consciousness will continue to be awakened and reawakenend by his thoughts, to such an extend that she can sometimes go into his head and hear those thoughts and see what he is seeing through his eyes.“
Paul Auster, Baumgartner, page 62, Faber & Faber 2023
Instrumentation & Setting:
Piccolo Flute [amplified]
Bass Clarinet [amplified + Octaver effect pedal (Boss Super Octave or other) >> 8vb]
Violin [amplified + Fuzz effect pedal (Boss Fuzz, Electro harmonix Big Muff or other)]
Cello [amplified + Distortion effect (Boss DS-1, RAT or other)]
Sample Keyboard [49 Keys with pitch wheel (for up and down), filters ad lib. (high pass, low pass, resonance, noise if possible etc.)]
Percussion
2 Thundersheets/Metal Sheets (I medium and II large)
large Tam Tam
large Bass drum
Snare
2 Crotales (d''' + c'''')
extra Cymbal (about 16'') loose on a cymbal stand
Hexbug Mini motor (children's toy, motorized bug – ossia: electronic tooth brush or soft vibrator) [2 Superballs, 2 bows, Sticks, Triangle beater and brush] +5 Transducers + 5 Expression pedals !!
*
Piccolo flute, Bass Clarinet, Violin and Cello are amplified (DPA microphones) and the signal is either sent to a local speaker (placed right next them) or « taken away » from them via expression pedals and (also) sent to Transducers (Visaton or Dayton or other) placed on the percussion instruments [Piccolo > Snare, Bass Clarinet > Tam Tam, Violin > Thundersheet I, Cello > Thundersheet II].
The Sample Keyboard Sound goes either to the PA or local speaker(s), preferably with subwoofer or (if « taken away » ) to a Transducer (Visaton or Dayton bass shaker placed on Bass drum).
This is all controlled by the percussionist on stage via 5 expression pedals. Actually the percussionist plays her*himself very little in this piece, but lets the instruments ring and resonate through other instruments « played » on the surfaces of the percussion instruments. Additionally three instruments have effect pedals (Bass Clarinet, Violin and Cello), activated by themselves via foot switch (on/off) – this adds extra effects to the Transducers and changes the way how the percussion instruments react to the sound (vibration/resonance).
Balance is delicate! The local Speakers shouldn't be too loud, but should be more or less on a level with whar is to achieved via the Transducers on percussion. So, amplification for Piccolo, BassClarinet, Violin and Cello should be rather subtle, zooming into the sound – amplification also for aesthetic reasons.
Depending on the hall and acoustics additional microphones to (subtly) amplify the whole percussion setting might be needed (>> PA).
Expression pedals routing:
a: Piccolo >> Snare
b: Bass Clarinet >> Tam Tam
c: Violin >> Thundersheet I (medium)
d: Cello >> Thundersheet II (large)
3: Sample Keyboard >> Bass Drum
* Technical Stuff :
4 DPA Microphones
4 local Speakers for Piccolo, Bass Clarinet, Violin and Cello
Local Speaker(s) or PA (incl. Subwoofer) for Sample Keyboard and for Percussion ad lib.
5 Tranducers (Dayton or Visaton or other, 1 bass shaker)
5 Expression pedals
3 Effect Pedals (Octaver, Distortion, Fuzz)
Additional Microphones for Percussion ad libitum
Cables/Laptops/Interfaces etc.
(Mixing desk etc. for Sound engineer)
*
Instead of the three effect pedals live electronics (effects built in Ableton or other) might be used as well and then confronted with other sounds and re-composed.
*
All 49 Samples for the Sample Keyboard were created by composer Sarah Nemtsov. Some of them (the percussive samples) are based on (purchased) samples by Drummer Dan Mayo, yet processed, alienated, confronted with other sounds and re-composed:
* Scordatura for Violin and Cello:
3 strings are detuned, the notation is always fingering, resulting sound is not especially written but always calculated and thought of. Therefor it is crucial to pay attention to the information which strings a note should be played on !
Sample Keyboard
Cello Bass Clarinet Piccolo
Violin Percussion audience
Fermatas: