Draconids
Performance Notes
Draconids was commissioned and premiered in 2011 by PostHaste Reed Duo: Sean Fredenburg (saxophone) and Javier Rodriguez (bassoon). I owe many thanks to these fantastic artists!
This piece uses pitch tracking to follow the performers; no computer operation and/or synchronization with an audio track is necessary during the performance.
System Configuration Required for performance: • Macintosh computer running OSX 10.6.8 or later with • MaxMSP version 5 or later installed (application or runtime) • Draconids Max patch (contact the composer at joshua.keeling@gmail.com to obtain the patch) • Audio interface connecting computer to loudspeakers • Two microphones connected to computer via audio interface • At least two loudspeakers in stereo configuration The only computer operation required for a performance is to turn the patch on by clicking the ON/OFF button. One of the performers or, ideally, an assistant may do this. The computer should be placed on stage facing the performers if possible. The bassoon and saxophone signals are also amplified through the computer – the levels may be adjusted in the Max patch prior to performance.
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Each of the highlighted notes is a cue note that the computer is “expecting.” These notes cause the computer to step through the piece and should be as accurate as possible. Specifically, on an equal tempered scale, A=440, the patch will interpret any every pitch within a quarter tone either direction (thus, no written quarter-tone notes are cue notes). Every pitch “heard” (even if not a cue note) is displayed as a MIDI number. The patch also displays the section letter and the number of the last-played cue note.
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For rehearsal, the patch may be started at the beginning of any section by selecting from the “Go to:” menu.
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In some sections, pauses are indicated with time values. These are minimum times; longer pauses may be desired depending on factors such as the sound from the computer, which will vary slightly each time. Performers are encouraged to use musical intuition to shape the overall section.
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Sections without meter (Sections C and F) are written graphically so that horizontal space corresponds to time. Consider one inch (~2.5 cm) to equal about 2 seconds in time.
Draconids Program Notes In October 2010, I had the pleasure of seeing my first meteor shower from a beautiful North Florida beach. In the extreme early morning hours, hundreds of meteors flooded the sky from all directions, most of them emerging from the direction of the constellation Draco. Some were quick and dazzling; others, to my surprise, drifted on slow, winding paths across the sky before dissipating into the night. The sense of tranquility and amazement I felt while watching one of nature’s most beautiful phenomena is one that I will never forget. In Draconids, I have ventured to render my impressions of this experience in musical form, not so much as a sonic mimicking of the meteors’ motion, but as an attempt to re-create the atmosphere of that awe-inspiring event. I wanted to make sure the electronic part was flexible and completely responsive to the performers, so I programmed it to track the pitches of the instrumentalists, leaving them free to interpret the piece at their own pace. The instrumentalists act partly as illustrators, establishing the celestial materials to which the computer adds motion and color; and as observers, reacting both to one another and to the overall soundscape. Multiphonics in the instrumental parts introduce altered harmonic spectra that further expand the tone colors available for the computer’s extraction and manipulation. The multiphonics are also reflected microtonally in much of the wind instruments’ melodic material. Often, the melodic passages are consonant with the multiphonic’s harmonic spectrum, but even more often I was fascinated by the sound of notes just outside the multiphonic spectrum. This effect can be heard especially in the final section, where the instrumentalists’ sound is convolved in real time with bassoon multiphonics, leaving behind long, sonic trails.