Michelle Lou: crocodiles 1b (2015) by Edition Gravis

Michelle Lou

crocodiles 1b (2015) für Ensemble • for ensemble Spielpartitur • performance score

eg 2277

Dedicated to to Ensemble Distractfold with much love and respect Duration: ca. 18’

E-Mail: info@editiongravis.de http://www.editiongravis.de eg 2277 ISMN M-2057-2082-7

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crocodiles1b

PREPARATION

for violin, viola, violoncello, electric guitar and electric bass

Place the knitting needle perpendicular to the strings by weaving it under the II string and positioning it on the fingerboard approximately in the middle of the neck.

Performance Notes

e-gtr

vln

vlc

vla

e-bass

Time is notated simply by a line marked in seconds above each system. It is not meant to be an entirely strict sense of time keeping. Players may choose to keep an internal sense of seconds rather than rely on a stopwatch. Actions are graphed onto this timeline to represent more or less approximate timings and durations of events. A vertical dotted line shows when actions should be made together. Performing from the score allows each person to „time“ their events relative to others.

Position the spiral clips on the strings so that they stand upright. The opening end of the clip should be positioned in such a way that when the string is bowed, the clip will bounce or „dance“ against the fingerboard. Violin and viola have two clips while cello has one. Because of the distance of the string from the fingerboard on the cello, the clip may or may not ever touch the fingerboard. Because these clips have sharp metal edges, sliding them up/down on the strings will likely grind down the windings and ruin them after much play, so 2nd instruments may be required (vln and vla) or a 2nd set of strings. Quality of the instrument is not important here.

Unless otherwise notated, volume or dynamics are determined by the nature of the action of the sounds themselves (namely in the strings), i.e. they are as loud as possible contingent on the physical actions required to make that particular sound, and never forced to be louder or softer. The electric instruments are notated as p~mp in order to balance with the strings. For them in some instances, certain material will grow out of niente, with no manual manipulation of the volume pedal, but the volume has to be already set so as to not be out of balance with the strings. There is hardly any true pitch emerging from this piece. Only the electric instruments have the rare notated pitch. The strings never finger any pitches. What emerges should be more on the scale of noise, from percussive to granular.

NOTATION

The bandwidth of activity (especially in the strings) in this piece may seem rather small. It is the persistence, repetition and duration of these activities that aim to push toward an uncharted territory of experiential awareness. Much of the syntax is based on short versus long, regular versus irregular, together versus separate pulses and vibrations. All actions should be performed with great intention and patience. If performed in a large hall, amplification is necessary. A mixture of close mic-ing and room mic-ing for recording purposes is also ideal.

knitting needle

strings

paperclip

STRINGS The left hand is only used for muting or un-muting strings and activating the knitting needle. Therefore, it is probably easier to hold the violin and viola resting against the shoulder rather than under the chin. need: very thin wood knitting needles (one each). they cannot be uniformly smooth (like smooth metal needles) because when they are drawn through the strings, they must produce a granular sound. metal spiral paper clips (sometimes called „moon clips“) 2 plastic cards like ID cards or credit cards, 1 normal plectrum scordatura: vln and vla: randomly de-tune instruments: loosening tension on strings II and III

eg 2277

MUTED STRINGS when muting strings, all strings are lightly muted, not just the playing string.

KNITTING NEEDLE quickly pull needle down and after letting go, it should bounce or ricochet against fingerboard. always allow it to decay on its own. Drawing the needle slowly (it can help to slowly twist it) to create a seamless metallic granular noise

BOW PLACEMENT in this case, „ord“ stands for bowing over the 2nd octave node on the fingerboard. ST stands for bowing next to the bridge side of the paper clip, about 1/8 inch from it or wherever the most granular and breaking metallic sound is.

PAPER CLIPS slide paper clip to different positions on the string. Each movement should produce an audible grinding sound while the edges of the clip moves over the wound string.

GEIGER COUNTER lightly muted strings, bow with steady pressure so that individual ticks are produced. the ticks themselves should sound rounded and percussive, using the sitcky-ness of the rosin to grab and pull the string, avoiding as much as possible any grittiness from the bow hair. Sort of like the sound of popcorn popping. It helps to brace one‘s hand against the body of the instrument. These ticks are performed as evenly as possible with short bow movements in a single bow direction for as long as possible. The bow is always in contact with the string.

dancing paper clip. when the clip is positioned over the fingerboard, and combined with lower string tension and some bow pressure (not a lot of bow pressure), the clip should interact with the fingerboard by bouncing or dancing against it while the string is bowed. This is audible and adds a metallic, gear-turning-like sound.

STUTTER strange morse code stuttering. the strings can be muted or not, but the sound itself is like the geiger counter, but with an allowance that it will have gritty bow noise. to play: with steady pressure, pull bow slowly in one direction for as long as possible, allowing uneven ticks to emerge by slight pauses or jerking movements of the bow hand. The bow is always in contact with the string. It shouldn‘t be fast at all, and sound like odd stuttering with no repeating pattern.

CREDIT CARDS violin uses the tip of a plastic card to knock on the wood of the fingerboard between strings. by going up and down the length of the fingerboard incrementally, resonances should sound. Strings are unmuted. Hold instrument upright on lap for this.

Viola uses a plectrum to strum/pluck the muted strings. SUBTONE the string can be muted or not. with steady pressure and a slow bow in one direction as long as possible, a low sound is created. It may catch and become more like fast ticks, or sound like a fast zipper. But it must be low pitched.

Violoncello uses the edge of the plastic card to knock along the top of the bridge back and forth incrementally.

BOWING note that the bow always stays in contact with the string. All objects should be performed in as long of a bow stroke as possible.

LIGHT BOW using the weight of the bow, bow lightly, again in one direction as long as possible with a slow to moderate bow speed. There should be a breaking, metallic, multiphonic noise.

Even bow pauses on the string. start/stop on the string.

eg 2277

ELECTRIC GUITAR + ELECTRIC BASS

abbreviations: REV – reverse mode MOD – modulate mode

need: guitar – volume pedal Boss Digital Delay pedal, model DD6 a whammy bar that goes down very far, otherwise a whammy pedal can be substituted e-bow plastic credit card or ID or very large plectrum *DIY small disc vibrator

Other sounds: 1) Short pulsing (bass) – strike open low B string and allow to ring. Bring up the volume pedal in short pulses so that there is no audible attack point. Wobbly. 2) Signal disturbance – silently unplug jack from instrument. Touch it to the plug on the instrument for that unpleasant signal noise. 3) scraping (guitar) – slowly scrape along the length of muted V and Vi string so that individual ticks are audible. In the beginning, the volume is down, so this should be as loud as possible. Like pulling a zipper. 4) notated e-bow movement – it is brought down to the front pick up and then taken away just as the e-bow catches. 5) glissando with e-bow – constant e-bow contact while glissing down as far as possible. Pauses are articulated by the volume pedal. pauses are short and even in duration. 6) Vibrators – the guitarist and bassist are responsible for these. At the right moment, they are to be turned on and left alone for the remainder of the piece. They may be placed to the side of each player on the floor or on small tables next to/slightly behind each players. If they are too loud on a particular surface, then preparing the surface (be it the floor or the tables) with a thin material or a stack of paper should help minimize their volume. They shouldn‘t be louder than everything else. At the end of the piece, they are simply picked up. Turning them off completely can happen before or after applause. Also note that batteries may die during the course of the performance, so a fresh set of batteries should always be placed in. (Same principle goes for the e-bows!)

bass – Boss Digital Delay pedal, model DD7 whammy pedal e-bow *DIY small disc vibrator scordatura: guitar – II string is tuned down half step to Bb VI string is tuned down or up ~ half step to Eb. looking for a strong beating when A harmonic played against A harmonic on fifth string. bass – I string is tuned up to Bb, or as close as possible V or IV string is tuned to low B

*two small battery operated cell phone vibrators. These are 10mm Diameter Flat Button Type 3V-4.5V CellPhone Micro Vibrators soldered to a battery holder and powered by CR2032 Lithium battery. They are simply turned on/off by slipping a small piece of folded paper in between where the battery connects to the holder. The vibrating element should be placed knocking on the surface on its narrow side.

The Boss delay pedals are used heavily in this piece. A sound is created in a few different ways: 1) Silent attack. The strings are activated while the volume pedal is at 0, but the delay pedal is on. At the notated moment, the volume pedal is brought up. This is to create the sense that this sound has always been lurking there, and has made its presence known suddenly. 2) Attack with HOLD function on the DD6. If quickly tapped while playing, a „stutter“ effect is created. Tapping the pedal again stops the sound. 3) WARP mode on the DD6. While playing, holding down the pedal will oscillate that action and lifting off the pedal stops it. 4) Unplugged jack. Holding the jack in the air, not touching anything, and with the delay pedal on and volume up, the signal „catches“ and an unspecified sound emerges. Types of delay sounds: 1) Spacey Sound – a fast gurgling, bubbling sound. Slide palm silently along length of muted strings. No identifiable pitch. 2) Slow-ish/moderate delay - usually notated as approximately eighth notes. Silently strike muted string(s) for percussive sound. Again, no pitch. Choose the setting that works best on pedal. 3) Fastest delay – very fast percussive sounds, like a machine gun. Choose best setting on pedal. 5) Changing speed – slowly turn the delay time knob on pedal. 6) Stutter – very fast stuttering sound. DD6 HOLD mode. 7) Unspecified signal noise with knob turning – this is an unpredictable sound. Allow the signal to catch and grow on its own accord. The volume may grow too loud, manage with volume pedal.

III

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

Michelle Lou

crocodiles 1b (2015) für Violine, Viola, Violoncello, E-Gitarre, E-Bass • for violin, viola, violoncello, electric guitar, electric bass

eg 2277