Contrapture (2009), electroacoustic music designed for 5.1 surround, draws inspiration from a variety of noisy devices or machines: airplanes, typewriters, printing presses, and others.  The title originates with a verbal mishap that I heard once;  I’m still not sure if the intended word was contraption or capture. In either case, this work resonates with both words due to the sounds sources and the various processes used in its creation.

Contrapture was composed with Grace (an algorithmic composition environment by Taube), Csound, AudioSculpt, and Protools. This work was realized in the Experimental Music Studios at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Pathfinder, electroacoustic music designed for 5.1 surround, draws inspiration from all the relatively small sounds that are made as we move through this world. The grating of rocks under foot, the crush of leaves, and the sounds of tree limbs snapping are among the sound sources used. The work is primarily concerned with motion, pace, obstacles, and points of arrival.

Pathfinder was composed with Grace (an algorithmic composition environment by Taube), Csound, Protools, and Max/MSP. This work was realized in the Experimental Music Studios at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Cypher, for solo trumpet, is one of a series of works focusing on subtle ratios of time and the goal of obscuring the perception of 1:1.  These ratios (for example – 1:1, 7:6, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2, 5:3, 7:4, 11:6, 2:1; or 12:12, 14:12, 15:12, 16:12, 18:12, 20:12, 21:12, 22:12, and 24:12) are approached by means of a loose system of situation based rules.  Cypher – a secret method of writing, as by transposition or substitution of letters, specially formed symbols, or the like; writing done in such a method; a coded message; or the key to a secret method of writing.

Cypher was composed with Grace an algorithmic composition environment by Taube.

Farseer, for clarinet and quadraphonic interactive electronics and/or fixed media, is a culmination of the composer’s fascination with optics, visions, and, well, things-visual.  From considering the vast distances that we can now see with the aid of various lenses and other imagery devises, to the possibility of seeing into the future or past (via visions, hallucinations, or devices), the notion of distance and time having a “malleable” boundary for vision/knowledge/perception is central to the premise of the piece (listening is an analogue to seeing.)  By using the clarinet as the sound source for the fixed media elements, as well as having live processing of the soloist’s performance, it is hoped that the melding of materials will have the periodic effect of blurring the perception of source, timing, and space.

Farseer was composed with Grace (an algorithmic composition environment by Taube), Csound, Protools, and Max/MSP.  Farseer was composed for and with materials recorded from clarinetist Kyle Rowan.

Garden Music is a short musical visage inspired by rock gardens and the contemplation of life. It was composed using a modified FM Gong instrument in CLM and samples of plucked piano.

Garden Music was composed with the aid of GraceCL, an algorithmic composition environment, by Taube.

Absolute Zero is concerned with the “life” of the constituent particles of matter as they reach the invisible bonds of absolute zero.  Absolute Zero (noun) – the lowest temperature that is theoretically possible, at which the particle constituents of matter do not move or have minimal motion. Imagine these particles as “life forms.”   Consider the crowds, the struggle, and the panic that would be the result of such a event as absolute zero.   Imagine yourself rebelling against the approaching bonds of cold.

Absolute Zero was produced using Csound, Absynth, and Protools, and was realized in the Experimental Music Studios at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Spectral Evidence, for percussion and piano, focuses on the stages of sleep and dream memory. “Spectral evidence was a form of evidence, based upon dreams and visions, accepted in court during the Salem Witch Trials. Spectral evidence was typically testimony given that an accused person’s spirit or spectral shape appeared to the witness in a dream while the accused person’s physical body was at another location” (wikipedia). This work is driven by the statistical occurrence of “non-steady-state” brain activity during the different stages of sleep. Brain activity such as Sleep Spindles and K-Complex are mapped to activity through the work. In addition, the “steady-state” brain waves during the different stages of sleep were considered when determining the overall evolution of density in the work.

Spectral Evidence was composed with the aid of GRACE, an algorithmic composition environment, by Taube. Spectral Evidence is an experiment in spectral composition, and is part of the continued experimentation by the composer in mapping the statistical occurrence of gestures over the course of a work. Spectral Evidence was commissioned by percussionist Caleb Herron.

2007

Pendent Trajectories  is one path that was taken. When started all aspects of the journey were undetermined or thought to be something that proved wrong. We allow intuition to guide us when plans fail or seem unimportant, and sometimes we find that which we did not seek.

2007

Reflection,  for solo piano was commissioned by Adam Scott Neal. This work is primarily concerned with the interaction of light and reflective surfaces. Reflection is characterized by the opening phrase of the work where a single pitch is played twice, a different pitch is played, and then the first is played again. Also, the notion of reflecting is observed in neighboring rolled figures where the first roll will go in one direction and the following will go in the opposite direction.

Reflection was composed with the aid of GRACE, an algorithmic composition environment, by Taube. Reflection is an experiment in mapping the statistical occurrence of gestures over the course of a work, and is part of the continued experimentation by the composer using weighted interval sets as a means of organizing pitch.

2007

Edge Protocol, for two-channel electronic playback, is primarily concerned with the notion of the human mind under immense pressure or stress. The work is meant to convey states of mind of a person before they “crack.” However, this journey is not a one way plummet, but like the ebb and flow of life, has its more and then less contorted moments.

Edge Protocol was composed with the aid of GRACE (a algorithmic composition environment by Rick Taube) and sounds produced with the Kurzweil K2000.