Sound / Players with circuits.

Rees Archibald, Matt Bauder, Ryuko Mizutani, John Zorn

This piece is a re-make of a 1966 composition by composer David Behrman using the computer program SuperCollider. As part of my thesis I worked with Mr. Behrman to ‘reconstruct’ old pieces of electronic music which can no longer be realized due to technological change.

The piece is for four players; two of whom play amplified string instruments (in this case koto and electric bass), and two others operating electronics (an audio oscillator, tone controls, ring modulator and pre-amplifier).

The character of the piece is largely a result of its timing. Widely spaced attacks by the instrumental players are coordinated with sudden switching in settings by the performers of electronic equipment. The movements of change are coordinated with stopwatches. Slight differences in timing of the four players’ responses to the stopwatch indications tend to throw these movements of sudden change slightly off balance. In the long intervals between attacks, sound is sustained through an interaction of instrumental resonance, leakage of the oscillator signal through the ring modulator, and acoustic feedback in the performance space.

Players with circuits from Rees Archibald on Vimeo.