Minuteman Trail [excerpt] by Aaron Einbond

AARON EINBOND

MINUTEMAN TRAIL for bass flute, saxophones, viola, percussion, piano, and electronics

AARON EINBOND 2014 duration ca. 12 minutes to the Eco Ensemble and David Milnes written for the 58. Festival Internazionale di Musica Contemporanea della Biennale di Venezia premiere 21 September 2014

Instrumentation Bass flute / Robin call (may be shared with saxophonist) Soprano saxophone in B-flat / Baritone saxophone in E-flat / Water whistle / Robin call (may be shared with flutist) Viola scordatura: string IV tuned down approximately one octave to C2 with plastic guitar plectrum Percussion Large Bass Drum Large Tam Tam Güiro Piccolo woodblock Bicycle bell Keychain 3 glass beer bottles Shell chimes Cabasa Mouth siren Police whistle Duck call

prepared with light metal chain, pinecone, and dried leaves (producing crackling sound without deteriorating, for example yucca leaves) resting on surface of instrument throughout the work prepared with light metal chain for part of the work (held vertically while pressed against bass drum skin) (or Mokubio) (mounted, with thumb-operated spring lever) (suspended, with a variety of keys sizes and shapes) (of slightly different pitches, at least one with a ridged bottom surface) (seashell, nutshell, bamboo, or similar chimes) (cylindrical, with rotating metal beads) (metal or plastic, with internal spinning element) (metal, with internal moving ball) (wooden, blown)

with 1 wooden snare drum stick, 1 hard plastic glockenspiel mallet, 2 wire brushes, 2 soft bass drum beaters, 1 contrabass bow, 1 triangle beater, 1 metal knitting needle, 1 superball mallet, 1 “ScotchBrite” scouring pad, 1 stiff plastic scrub brush Piano B7 and C8 strings are fully muted with Blu-tack throughout the work with 2 wire brushes, 1 superball mallet, 1 wire whisk (ideally rubber-tipped “bobble whisk”), 1 glass marble, 1 golf ball, 1 glass guitar slide, 1 small cylindrical drinking glass, 1 stiff wooden scrub brush

Technical requirements 1 Macbook Pro laptop with computer program Max 6.1 (32-bit mode) 1 Audio interface with at least three output channels (stereo out & click track). No input to the audio interface in required. 1 Pair of headphones (optional for click track) 1 MIDI pedal (optional) Stereo output Monitor speaker (mono) for ensemble All instruments are amplified. Suggested microphones: Bass flute and saxophones

closely positioned cardioid condenser microphone (Neumann KM184 or similar).

Viola

clip-on microphone behind the bridge (DPA 4060 or similar). The violist is asked to bow directly on the microphone: this could be on the wind screen of the DPA, or a separate Piezo contact microphone may be used for the purpose (Schaller â&#x20AC;&#x153;oysterâ&#x20AC;? microphone or similar).

Percussion

4 cardioid condenser microphones, 2 positioned near the surfaces of the tam tam and bass drum, and 2 in stereo in front of the mounted small instruments. Also recommended: 2 contact microphones on the surfaces of the tam tam and bass drum (Schertler DYN-P or similar).

Piano

2 cardioid condenser microphones, one positioned closely over the highest register (G6-C8), the other over the mid-low register.

Electronic cues may be triggered either by a member of the ensemble using a MIDI pedal, or alternately by an assistant at the computer using the spacebar. A clicktrack is used to coordinate between the electronics and the ensemble. Alternately, if the monitor speaker is sufficiently clear, the conductor may follow cues in the mix such as footsteps.

Bass flute and Saxophones

Notes

Robin call (wooden birdcall producing sound by friction)

Clef two octaves above the treble clef.

Clef two octaves below the bass clef.

µ B

Water whistle (water-filled whistle or birdcall producing a periodic warbling when blown)

Breath noise with some pitch.

¼-tone sharp, flat.

WUU " f"

Breath noise only with as little pitch as possible.

Short, medium, and long fermata (for which exact duration is indicated).

Key noise sounding at approximate indicated pitch (fingering ad lib.).

Dynamic indicating subjective effort applied when the sonic result may be significantly different, especially quieter.

Slap tongue.

Beating or pulsation resulting from the indicated playing technique for the duration of the note value.

Flutter tongue.

Prepared note: resulting sound with be distorted as a result.

Tongue as fast as possible (single or double as indicated, not flutter tongued).

Small notes played as fast as possible after the beat and lasting approximately the indicated duration.

Harmonics: finger lower pitch and aim for approximate high partial as indicated. Dotted line indicates a harmonic glissando: one partial cross-fades with another like a filter sweep, not a continuous pitch glissando.

Exaggerated pressure to produce friction, beating, or crackling. Underpressure to produce a light, airy, flickering sound.

Multiphonic: numbers refer to suggested fingerings in Daniel Kientzy, Les Sons Multiples aux Saxophones.

] ; \ Use finger(s), palm, or fist. Rhythm: the tempo is observed strictly by the conductor both with and without the click track. However within each measure the rhythmic notation is intended only to orient the events to their approximate positions. Therefore it could be thought of as a detailed form of proportional notation. It is not intended to serve a metrical function nor need it be coordinated precisely with the other performers most of the time.

Bisbigliando. Use an alternate fingering producing a difference in timbre and/or microtonal variation in pitch. Embouchure open, closed. For bass flute, open is the ordinary playing position and closed indicates a complete seal of the lips over the embouchure. For saxophones, closed is the ordinary playing position and open indicates an immediate release of the lips after playing (for example a slap tongue).

[t k]

Articulate or shape embouchure to indicated phoneme, notated with IPA symbols as follows:

[i] [f] [b] [^] [∫] [t∫]

“see” (highest tongue position) “sit” ! “bed” " “not” (lowest tongue position) “she” “chair”

Güiro (pressed against bass drum skin).

Mouth siren

Police whistle

Soft bass drum beaters.

Wire brushes.

Hard plastic mallet.

Directly on the bridge: white noise with no pitch.

Wooden snare drum stick, or rattan handles of another stick may be substituted.

On the body of instrument: face (top surface), side (éclisse), or back as indicated.

Superball mallet.

Triangle beater.

Metal knitting needle.

Contrabass bow.

Viola Scordatura: throughout the work the fourth string is tuned down approximately one octave to C2 (’cello C). s.p. s.t. c.l.b. c.l.t.

sul ponticello / near the bridge sul tasto / near the fingerboard col legno battuto / strike with wood of the bow, no hair col legno tratto / bow with wood, no hair

Natural harmonics notated at suggested fingered pitch, often corresponding to sounding pitch in the high register. However they may be fingered at other positions at the performer’s discretion. String numbers are followed by partial numbers in parentheses, for example: I (12).

Dampen indicated string with left hand to produce a white-noise-like sound with as little pitch as possible. For glissando effect, move the left hand to produce a colored noise sweep without definite pitch.

Ricochet (as many bounces as possible within the indicated duration).

Plastic guitar plectrum.

On the wooden rim of the Bass drum.

Percussion

Small instruments are notated on the percussion staff as above, or otherwise as specified. Other instruments and mallets:

Tam tam

Bass drum

Action in a continuous arc for the duration indicated (for example on Tam tam, Bass drum, or Güiro)

Action in a rotating motion for the duration indicated (for example for robin call or bicycle bell lever)

Action in a back-and-forth motion for the duration indicated, always remaining in contact with the surface (for example of the Tam tam or Bass drum)

Piano

Clef indicating positions of actions inside the piano, from closer to the performer at the nut to farther from the performer at the bridge. All positions are approximate, especially when necessitated by differences of internal piano structure. On some pianos the positions “between nut and tuning pegs” and “behind bridge” must be interchanged: the goal throughout the work is relatively undampened strings producing slight resonance with clear differences in register but not too definite pitch.

Superball mallet.

Wire brushes.

Wire whisk.

Regular notehead used to indicate actions with definite pitch on the keyboard or strings. When used in combination with five-line clef, notes are joined by a single stem to indicate both “horizontal” and “vertical” positions. For glissando effects on the strings, the predominant pitch should rise as the performer moves farther away from the keyboard, and fall as the performer moves closer, as suggested by the contour of the glissando line.

Notehead used to indicate actions with approximate pitch on strings behind bridge or between nut and tuning pegs. Due to differences in piano structure these positions may be interchanged, as indicated above.

Four clefs used on the lower staff to approximate the four registers of strings, separated from each other by stress bars, of a Steinway B or similar piano. Their approximate ranges are A0-G2, Ab2-Bb4, B4-F#6, and G6-C8 respectively. For differing pianos the pitches indicated in the score may be adjusted accordingly to allow continuous gestures uninterrupted by stress bars.

Circled noteheads used to indicate actions with objects lying on strings (marble, golfball, drinking glass).

Notehead used to indicate actions with no definite pitch, for example on frame, case, or lid of instrument.

B7 and C8 strings are fully muted with Blu-tack throughout the work. “Cluster” indicating approximate range of strings covered by objects inside piano. Throughout the work the drinking glass rests in the lower-middle register on its curved side. Its position is varied slightly, as indicated by the “cluster” notation showing the range of strings covered.

Audibly depress and lift damper pedal.

Stem directions are sometimes used to indicate right and left hands. Otherwise hand positions are left to the performer.

to the Eco Ensemble and David Milnes

Transposed Score Eco21.mus 8/1/14

Bass flute

2 8

MINUTEMAN TRAIL for five players and electronics  = 120

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AARON EINBOND 2014

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Viola

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