Robert Honstein - Middle Ground (violin)

MIDDLE GROUND for Violin and live processing Robert Honstein 2016

Duration ~19 minutes Three movements 1. Too Far 2. Too Close 3. Bridging the Gap Note Cast in three movements - Too Far, Too close, and Bridging the Gap Middle Ground searches for a common space between opposites. The first movement, Too Far, emerges quietly from the highest range of the violin. Barely audile, fingers at the instrument’s edge, the music hovers in a cloud of ethereal tones before slowly descending. In an abrupt shift, the second movement, Too Close, lives in the violin’s lowest range.

Distorted, rhythmic bursts hammer away at chopped up scales and jagged arpeggios. Eventually waves of sound surge upwards, only to plummet back down, pulled by a relentless, unyielding gravity. The final movement, Bridging the Gap, seems almost without hope. Exhausted by the previous movement’s struggle, the music searches for a new path forward. Two lines, one descending and the other ascending, gradually, methodically move towards each other, steadily intensifying as they approach middle ground.

Middle Ground was commissioned by Kat Kroll, Barbara Sapienza, and Nancy Karp + Dancers and premiered February 10, 2016 by Kate Stenberg at the ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA Performance note At the end of movement 1 and 2 let the delay lines fade to nothing before beginning the next movement. At the end of movement 3 let the delay fade to nothing before ending the piece.

The delay lines are set to work in the given tempo and interesting canonic relationships occur when the live tempo matches the delay tempo. That said minor deviations from the given tempo will not be a problem so it is not necessary to play with a click track.

Minimum technical requirements Microphone - for Amplification and processing Audio interface Laptop w/ software for delays and reverb* Speakers *the composer can provide a simple standalone Max/MSP app or Logic MainStage set for the processing. Alternatively, the performer can set up their own effects chain using whatever software (or hardware) they own - Ableton, Logic, various pedals, etc.

NOTES ON LIVE PROCESSING The basic setup is as follows: violin ≥ microphone ≥ interface ≥ laptop/software ≥ speakers Each movement has a different effects chain. They are: Too Far multi-tap delay (8 taps) convolution reverb large space, six second tail.

Too Close multi-tap delay (4 taps) distortion fuzzy, heavily distorted convolution reverb small space, dry, .6 second tail Bridging the Gap multi-tap delay (5 taps) convolution reverb same setting as first movement At the end of each movement let the delay lines fade to nothing before switching to the next movement’s setting. The tap timings are set with respect to the notated tempo of each movement, so it is important to try and match that tempo. Exact timing is not important so you do not need to use a click.

The composer can provide a Logic MainStage set or a Max/MSP standalone app that produces the processing for each movement.

Please contact the composer if you would like to use these.

If you’d like to program your own effects chain using whatever hardware or software you have available, here are more detailed descriptions of the effect settings. These specific settings refer to: Logic delay designer Logic space designer Logic pedalboard Any other multi-tap delay, convolution reverb, or distortion plug-in would produce similar effects.

1. Too Far delay TAP

TIME (ms)

TIME (notes)

LEVEL (db)

PAN

A

197.4

sixteenth

-2.0

center

B

394.7

eighth

-3.4

center

C

592.1

dotted eighth

-4.8

center

D

1578.9

half

-11.0

far left

E

3157.9

whole

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near left

F

4746.8

dotted whole

-28.0

near right

G

6315.8

double whole

-42.0

far right

H

9473.7

triple whole

-5.6

center

global controls: feedback dry signal delay signal

= = =

-15db 0db 0db

= = =

0db -10db 6 sec.

reverb dry signal wet signal decay

custom impulse from a large stone church space

2. Too Close delay TAP

TIME (ms)

TIME (notes)

LEVEL (db)

PAN

A

1428.6

half

-10.5

far left

B

2857.1

whole

-17.5

far right

C

4285.7

dotted whole

-30.0

far left

D

5714

double whole

-42.0

far right

global controls: feedback dry signal delay signal

= = =

-15db 0db -6db

distortion Grinder, set to full.

reverb dry signal wet signal decay

= = =

0db -10db .54 sec.

pre-set impulse from logic ‘Wooden Studio’

3. Bridging the Gap delay TAP

TIME (ms)

TIME (notes)

LEVEL (db)

PAN

A

769.2

triplet quarter

-4.0

far left

B

1538.5

triplet half

-14.5

near left

C

2307.7

half

-28.0

near right

D

3076.9

half + triplet quarter

-38.0

far right

E

3846.2

half + triplet half

-46.0

hard right

global controls: feedback dry signal delay signal

= = =

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reverb same setting as Too Far

for Kate Stenberg

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Middle Ground - II. Too Close - ver. 12.29.16 © 2016 Robert Honstein

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Middle Ground - II. Too Close - ver. 12.29.16 © 2016 Robert Honstein

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Middle Ground - II. Too Close - ver. 12.29.16 © 2016 Robert Honstein

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III. Bridging the Gap distant, glacial, cold and dark, q no vibrato, icy, clear tone

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43

Let delay lines decay to nothing after last chord.

Middle Ground - 3. Bridging the Gap - ver. 12.29.16 © 2016 Robert Honstein

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