this is a performance about you, not its maker for three to ten acoustic instruments in an indoor concert music venue to, for, and of ELMS Players listen to ambient sounds—meaning sounds they do not intend to make. Independently of each other, they each choose one layer of ambient sound that is consistent in some respect, and listen to it closely. The selected layers’ behaviors determine the piece’s unfolding in time: durations are determined in numbers of ambient events, meaning recurrences of non-continuous ambient sounds or changes in continuous ambient sounds in each player’s chosen layer of ambient sound. (“Ambient events” include all relevant ambient sounds audible to a particular performer In chosen layers of ambient sound, ambient events are usually 1-10” apart and irregular in duration. In time, sound and silence alternate: one sound is followed by one silence, followed by one sound, etc. A sound means either a sustained tone or a moderately slow glissando; roughly half of players execute sustained tones throughout while remaining players perform slow glissandi. Independently of each other, performers seek out timbres in which pitch is neither unambiguously clear nor wholly indiscernible. Chosen timbres change perceptibly and unpredictably in time, through oscillations in spectral content and/or breaks in continuity. Volume is determined by quietest possible volume of least quiet instrument/playing technique; this volume level is matched by all instruments throughout, and is loud enough to be not wholly inaudible to the audience. In creating successions of sounds, players begin sometimes on the previous sound’s final pitch (sometimes doing so for three or more successive sounds), at other times some small interval away (up to a whole step). Glissandi ascend and descend in roughly equal proportion; glissandi sometimes proceed in the same direction as the previous glissando and at other times reverse direction. Each glissando moves at a constant speed throughout; successive glissandi might or might not move at differing speeds. All glissandi move at between an eighth-tone and quarter-tone per second. Once during a realization, each player changes pitch by a large interval between successive sounds, moving by at least a perfect fourth and, where possible, changing one’s registral position relative to other players (a player lower than any other player(s) moves above their pitch(es), or vice-versa). Otherwise, players avoid obvious large-scale patterning in pitch contour. Durations are determined in numbers of ambient events. For instance, in performing a sound of duration two (ambient events), the sound begins as soon as possible after an initial ambient event, continues during a second ambient event, and ends as soon as possible after a third ambient event. All performers draw on the same unordered sets of durations: one for sounds and one for silences. Unordered sets are given in the chart below, and vary depending upon the number of players in the performance, as well as the chosen length of the realization. Each performer places the longest durations of sound and silence in distinct temporal positions (i.e. beginning/middle/end of the sequence of durations) relative to other performers. Otherwise, performers order durations independently, and do so avoiding global patterning. Sequences of durations begin with sound or silence. In addition to these durations, the piece begins with a minute of silence, and ends with the same. Any one player (not designated in advance) marks the end of the initial minute of silence by making a sound (thus beginning to proceed through their individual sequence of durations); as soon as possible after the beginning of this sound, all other players begin proceeding through their own
sequences of durations. Performers minimize visual discontinuities between sound and silence, and begin and end the piece in playing position. After exhausting their series of durations, players wait, in playing position, for other players to do the same. If at any point during a realization of the piece, a consecutive minute of tutti silence occurs, the realization ends, with the minute of silence functioning as the piece’s final silence. If a performer’s chosen ambient sound layer becomes inaudible, or if any exceptionally loud ambient sound occurs, this performer ends their sound immediately. When their selected ambient sound layer becomes audible again, the performer in question begins their next silence on the layer’s next audible ambient event. If this layer does not become audible again, remain silent until the end of the piece. Immediately prior to a performance of this piece, inform the audience that they are actively implicated in the piece, for example: “the sounds you do or do not make will have an effect on the sounds I make. This might or might not inform how you listen.”
unordered duration sets: [sound]/(silence) performance duration: # of players: 3 or 4
5 or 6
7 or 8
9 or 10
shortest
short
long
longest
[1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8, 13,21] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,21,34, 55) [1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8, 13,21] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, 34,55,89) [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5, 8,13,21] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, 34,55,89,144) [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3, 5,8,13,21] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, 21,34,55,89,144, 233)
[1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, 21,34] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, 34,55,89) [1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8, 13,21,34] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, 34,55,89,144) [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8, 13,21,34] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, 34,55,89,144,233) [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5, 8,13,21,34] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, 34,55,89,144,233, 377)
[1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, 34,55] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55,89,144) [1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, 21,34,55] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55,89,144,233) [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, 21,34,55] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55,89,144,233,377) [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8, 13,21,34,55] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55,89,144,233,377,610)
[1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, 34,55] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55,89,144) [1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, 21,34,55,89] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55,89,144,233,377) [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, 21,34,55,89] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55,89,144,233,377,610) [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,5,8, 13,21,34,55,89] (1,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55,89,144,233,377,610, 987)
colin tucker 2017