Sideband: The In-Between (CD)
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1. Short Circuits for alto flute, saxophone and percussion - Tristan Coelho
2. A Requiem for bass flute and vibraphone - Katia Tiutiunnik 3. The Colour of Blue Clouds for soprano, violin, trombone, flute and percussion - Brad Gill 4. Amplitude for percussion and pre-recorded electronics - Peter McNamara 5. Josquin Study for 2 vibraphones - Brad Gill 6. Spectrum for bass clarinet, marimba and pre-recorded electronics - Božidar Kos 7. White Noise arrangement for soprano, bass recorder and vibraphone - Peter McNamara 8. Monody for piano, percussion and live electronics - Roger Smalley |
Sideband: The In-Between tracks
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Short Circuits - Tristan Coelho
Performed by Jane Bishop-alto flute, Ben Carey-tenor saxophone, Niki Johnson-percussion. |
Short Circuits continues an interest of mine in exploring the sounds of malfunctioning technology, and in this case, ideas surrounding circuit bending. This creative practice is all about modifying electronic devices, some of which are perhaps not normally considered musical (e.g. children’s electronic toys), often creating jarring, glitchy and/or chance-based results. Short Circuits taps into the idea of dismantling and modifying an electronic device (or in this case a musical riff) before it is then reassembled.
Tristan Coelho 2016
Tristan Coelho 2016
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A Requiem - Katia Tiutiunnik
Performed by Jane Bishop-bass flute, Brad Gill-vibraphone. |
A Requiem is intended as a musical symbol referring to the concept of the requiem as both a Roman Catholic ritual held for the deceased and also as an act or token of remembrance for an individual who has passed over. The composition was not inspired by the death of any particular individual; rather, it is concerned with the idea of death in the most abstract sense, encompassing the mystical notion of spiritual death as a necessary precursor to enlightenment. In this sense, it is symbolically related to a number of other compositions of mine—including my string quartet, Night Journey—which embrace the mythological motif of "spiritual rebirth at the eighth stage, following a journey through seven stages and death".
The research culminating in the creation of A Requiem necessitated a detailed study of the technical and stylistic aspects of the bass flute and—to a lesser extent—those of the vibraphone, in addition to analyses of pertinent scores and recordings. As it is only my second composition to include bass flute, it was of paramount importance that I broaden my knowledge of the instrument, in order to enable me to compose idiomatically for it in a duo setting.
The melodic material in A Requiem is based on myriad variations of an originally composed melody in the maqām hijaz, which, in the Arab ethos, is symbolically associated with purity, the midnight hour and “turning points”—all of which are intimately related to the concept of death as a precursor to rebirth. The complex, ornamental phrases, microtonal glissandi and repeated "drone" like notes are reminiscent of classical Arab music. Like my compositions Le Vie del Vento Divino for flute/ney, two bass flutes, contrabass flute and percussion and At-Taubah: A Meditation for ‘Oud, A Requiem is experimental in nature, as it is the first duo of mine consisting solely of lines and harmonies crafted from multiple variations of the same melody.
A Requiem is dedicated to the flautist/composer, Geni Skendo.
Katia Tiutiunnik 2014
The research culminating in the creation of A Requiem necessitated a detailed study of the technical and stylistic aspects of the bass flute and—to a lesser extent—those of the vibraphone, in addition to analyses of pertinent scores and recordings. As it is only my second composition to include bass flute, it was of paramount importance that I broaden my knowledge of the instrument, in order to enable me to compose idiomatically for it in a duo setting.
The melodic material in A Requiem is based on myriad variations of an originally composed melody in the maqām hijaz, which, in the Arab ethos, is symbolically associated with purity, the midnight hour and “turning points”—all of which are intimately related to the concept of death as a precursor to rebirth. The complex, ornamental phrases, microtonal glissandi and repeated "drone" like notes are reminiscent of classical Arab music. Like my compositions Le Vie del Vento Divino for flute/ney, two bass flutes, contrabass flute and percussion and At-Taubah: A Meditation for ‘Oud, A Requiem is experimental in nature, as it is the first duo of mine consisting solely of lines and harmonies crafted from multiple variations of the same melody.
A Requiem is dedicated to the flautist/composer, Geni Skendo.
Katia Tiutiunnik 2014
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The Colour of Blue Clouds - Brad Gill
Performed by Anastasia Pahos-conductor Michelle Ryan-soprano, Jane Bishop-flute, Jackie McCaughan-violin, Milo Dodd-trombone, Brad Gill-percussion. |
The Colour of Blue Clouds was originally intended to be the second of a pair of songs setting Buddhist poems in their original Pali language. As work on composition progressed it became apparent that the song was a stand-alone work, and if anything is more an echo or ‘after-image’ of my previous yet to be performed work, The Colour of Distance, also a song, with a very similar title and with which it shares both material and a more pronounced lyricism than other works of mine, although subsequently I’ve been inspired to actually expand the original two-song idea into a series of five ‘Pali Songs’ which constitute a cycle but also work as independent works.
Composed during a difficult personal period punctuated by illness and disruptions, The Colour of Blue Clouds is also a first attempt at authentically integrating my creative work with a renewed phase of personal exploration of and engagement with Taoist and Buddhist practice and philosophy. The text for this song is the thirteenth of the theragāthā (or verses of the elders), enlightenment poems attributed to or celebrating the first generations of Buddhist monks. I was particularly attracted to the imagery and restlessness of this brief poem, which I found strongly evocative and inspiring as a basis for composition after seven months of silence. My own English version of the Pali original follows.
The colour of blue clouds, beautiful;
cool waters, clear flowing;
covered with indagopaka*,
these rocks delight me.
(tr. Brad Gill, 2014)
* Indagopaka is a small red insect perhaps similar to a ladybug that would come out in multitudes after rainfall
Brad Gill 2014
Composed during a difficult personal period punctuated by illness and disruptions, The Colour of Blue Clouds is also a first attempt at authentically integrating my creative work with a renewed phase of personal exploration of and engagement with Taoist and Buddhist practice and philosophy. The text for this song is the thirteenth of the theragāthā (or verses of the elders), enlightenment poems attributed to or celebrating the first generations of Buddhist monks. I was particularly attracted to the imagery and restlessness of this brief poem, which I found strongly evocative and inspiring as a basis for composition after seven months of silence. My own English version of the Pali original follows.
The colour of blue clouds, beautiful;
cool waters, clear flowing;
covered with indagopaka*,
these rocks delight me.
(tr. Brad Gill, 2014)
* Indagopaka is a small red insect perhaps similar to a ladybug that would come out in multitudes after rainfall
Brad Gill 2014
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Amplitude - Peter McNamara
Performed by Brad Gill-percussion plus pre-recorded electronics |
Amplitude for vibraphone, tam tam and pre-recorded electronics was originally written in conjunction with composer-percussionist Brad Gill and first performed by Claire Edwardes. It is entirely based on the physical-acoustic properties of various pre-recorded tam tam sounds that form the basis of the work’s electronic component. These are predominantly bowed tam tam sounds where various pitches of the instrument emerge and are amplified by bowing and dampening in various positions. The electronic component is also metaphorically amplified by the live component of the work. Each tam tam sound used is subjected to acoustic analysis with the partials present in each forming the basis of the pitch material used in the vibraphone. This pitch material is also used to create synthetic sounds that closely imitate the original tam tam sounds. These components combined work together to synthesise new tone colours.
Amplitude begins with ethereal and highly processed sounds in the electronics that are re-enforced by similar tone colours in the vibraphone such as bowed and sporadic vibrato pitches. The textures gradually become more active and begin to merge into the work’s second section where the prerecorded tam tam sounds are introduced. These are developed by utilising tone colour contrasts in the live component such as wire brushes, buzzing and rattling sounds and delay sounds in the electronics that are re-enforced in the vibraphone by bouncing a chopstick on the resonating bars.
The development then proceeds to a climactic section emphasised mostly by tam tam tremoli and harsh processed electronic sounds that culminates with a synthesised tam tam sonority in the electronics. The work’s finale then unfolds as a short recapitulation of the opening, but in contrast the directional placement of the sounds shifts continually to deceive the listener from where the sound is emanating.
Peter McNamara 2013
Amplitude begins with ethereal and highly processed sounds in the electronics that are re-enforced by similar tone colours in the vibraphone such as bowed and sporadic vibrato pitches. The textures gradually become more active and begin to merge into the work’s second section where the prerecorded tam tam sounds are introduced. These are developed by utilising tone colour contrasts in the live component such as wire brushes, buzzing and rattling sounds and delay sounds in the electronics that are re-enforced in the vibraphone by bouncing a chopstick on the resonating bars.
The development then proceeds to a climactic section emphasised mostly by tam tam tremoli and harsh processed electronic sounds that culminates with a synthesised tam tam sonority in the electronics. The work’s finale then unfolds as a short recapitulation of the opening, but in contrast the directional placement of the sounds shifts continually to deceive the listener from where the sound is emanating.
Peter McNamara 2013
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Josquin Study - Brad Gill
Performed by Brad Gill and James Townsend-vibraphones |
Josquin Study (on Mille regretz) was originally composed in 1996 for guitar and un-pitched percussion. Written during the first (or second) year of my undergraduate university composition studies for an assignment, it is based around a work I loved from the first moment I heard it in early music history class, the French chanson attributed to 15th/16th century composer Josquin des Prez. I was struck by the beauty and plaintive yet calm character of particularly the vocal arrangement I first heard, as well as attracted to the composer’s use of Phrygian mode and saw it as a vehicle to explore this mode and write a piece self-consciously utilising material from an existing work (something I had not done up to this point).
In 2012, during a fallow period compositionally, I began reworking and developing earlier works for percussion, or as in this instance, experimented with re-composing earlier, perhaps more accessible works of mine with a view to producing student oriented percussion repertoire for possible publication. The original material worked very well for two vibraphones, and allowed the exploration and development of some novel techniques (the adaptation of a rising/descending repeated note glissando figure, for example) for the vibraphone and, hopefully, an interesting addition to the percussion repertoire.
In hindsight, this is something of a ‘pathway piece’ for me, revealing in incipient form many aspects of what in a series of works evolved into a primary constellation of compositional techniques and interests. It’s a strange work: episodic, alternating straight-out Phrygian material with forays into free chromaticism, and a ‘gradual reveal’ through fragmentation and partial quotation of Josquin’s original composition. Some phrases build through call and response between the two vibraphones to a climax-resolution, others simply ‘be’, as if suspended in time.
Brad Gill 1996/2012
In 2012, during a fallow period compositionally, I began reworking and developing earlier works for percussion, or as in this instance, experimented with re-composing earlier, perhaps more accessible works of mine with a view to producing student oriented percussion repertoire for possible publication. The original material worked very well for two vibraphones, and allowed the exploration and development of some novel techniques (the adaptation of a rising/descending repeated note glissando figure, for example) for the vibraphone and, hopefully, an interesting addition to the percussion repertoire.
In hindsight, this is something of a ‘pathway piece’ for me, revealing in incipient form many aspects of what in a series of works evolved into a primary constellation of compositional techniques and interests. It’s a strange work: episodic, alternating straight-out Phrygian material with forays into free chromaticism, and a ‘gradual reveal’ through fragmentation and partial quotation of Josquin’s original composition. Some phrases build through call and response between the two vibraphones to a climax-resolution, others simply ‘be’, as if suspended in time.
Brad Gill 1996/2012
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Spectrum - Božidar Kos
Performed by Garran Hutchison-Menzer-bass clarinet and Anastasia Korolev-marimba plus pre-recorded electronics (tape). |
The title refers to the harmonic or overtone spectrum, which forms the basis for the vertical organisation of pitch in this work. Harmonic fields have been created by mapping a number of pitch sets of different densities onto the harmonic spectrum of 32 harmonics. Each successive set has been mapped onto a spectrum of a different fundamental, creating thus a succession of incomplete or defective spectra, each belonging to another fundamental.
The material on the tape consists of pure harmonics on the one hand and of complex FM sounds on the other. Whereas the harmonics are in perfect ‘harmonic’ relationship with each other, the organisation of FM sounds is based on the chromatically tempered spectrum, creating thus some incongruity between the two systems. Correspondingly such incongruence appears also between the pitch material played by the bass clarinet and the one played by the marimba.
Božidar Kos 1988
The material on the tape consists of pure harmonics on the one hand and of complex FM sounds on the other. Whereas the harmonics are in perfect ‘harmonic’ relationship with each other, the organisation of FM sounds is based on the chromatically tempered spectrum, creating thus some incongruity between the two systems. Correspondingly such incongruence appears also between the pitch material played by the bass clarinet and the one played by the marimba.
Božidar Kos 1988
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White Noise - Peter McNamara
Performed by Deepka Ratra-soprano, Alicia Crossley-bass recorder, Brad Gill-vibraphone. |
White Noise was written as a collaboration between the composer and Lao-Australian writer Sumana Viravong as part of the composer-in-residence project the composer completed with the Campbelltown Arts Centre in Sydney, 2006. Sumana Viravong’s words speak largely about the modern lives of people living in the Cambelltown area, which is an area that is close to the city of Sydney and therefore partly suburban. The Campbelltown area though, is also close to some of Australia’s farming areas and natural wonders.
This ‘in-between’ location is the main inspiration for the musical elements of White Noise. The work has a mixture of textures ranging from very calm to active and even chaotic. Contrast between these calmer textures representing the more ‘relaxed’ side of the Campbelltown area and the more active textures representing the suburban, is a feature of the piece. The opening textures are predominantly calmer; as the work progresses, the active and more chaotic become more prevalent, culminating in a climactic section. This is contrasted with a calmer finale that finally dissipates.
Peter McNamara 2006/13
This ‘in-between’ location is the main inspiration for the musical elements of White Noise. The work has a mixture of textures ranging from very calm to active and even chaotic. Contrast between these calmer textures representing the more ‘relaxed’ side of the Campbelltown area and the more active textures representing the suburban, is a feature of the piece. The opening textures are predominantly calmer; as the work progresses, the active and more chaotic become more prevalent, culminating in a climactic section. This is contrasted with a calmer finale that finally dissipates.
Peter McNamara 2006/13
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Monody - Roger Smalley
Performed by Kerry Yong-piano plus live electronics (ring modulation) |
Monody was composed between October 1971 and February 1972. It is the first piece in which the technique of ring-modulation plays a structural, as opposed to colouristic and decorative, role. This is achieved by restricting the piano part to a single monodic line throughout. Thus only one set of addition and difference tones is produced and their frequencies can be exactly predicted. The pianist controls the frequency of the sine-wave generator by means of a small keyboard which he plays with his left hand. In addition, two drums and four triangles are used to reinforce the lowest and highest difference tones.
Roger Smalley 1972
Roger Smalley 1972
Acknowledgements
Sideband was saddened to hear that both Božidar Kos and Roger Smalley both passed away during 2015. Božidar Kos was an influential teacher of both Brad Gill and Peter McNamara, and Tristan Coelho and Brad Gill have both been involved in preserving the music of Roger Smalley. May they both be remembered as great composers, but also as great men.
Sideband was saddened to hear that both Božidar Kos and Roger Smalley both passed away during 2015. Božidar Kos was an influential teacher of both Brad Gill and Peter McNamara, and Tristan Coelho and Brad Gill have both been involved in preserving the music of Roger Smalley. May they both be remembered as great composers, but also as great men.
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Sideband: The In-Between was made possible through the generous support of the Film Buff Production Company.
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