Cover Musics + Randy Newman + Dodger Stadium in Berlin's Engelbrot Theater


The title is itself entertaining enough, but there is more wackiness to this post. I got invited to the Los Angeles-Berlin Sister City Love Jam (haha), and believe it or not I was there as a Los Angeles artist and this means I had to do something of mine, which ended up being Cover Musics on violin and field recordings from a Dodger game I attended played back in the theater. Comments/abuses/suggestions relating to the music welcome... ;)

Which fingers would you use ? 1, 2, 3, 4 or none of the above?

For the upcoming 175 East concert, I am preparing Elliot Carter's Canon for 4. Encountering the piece again after almost 8 years (I can't believe I never had the chance to do this until now), it is interesting to see the fingering decisions I made back then - the younger, bright-eyed, näive me. I thought it might interest some

You are looking at bars 66 & 67 of the piece, a couple of bars of violin-noodling , yes that is a real musical terminology you can look it up. Bearing in mind the tempo is dotted-quarter = circa 69, what numbers (or fingerings) would you come up with ?

I will explain right now that I am going to be utilising the American system when referring to note values. After dealing with both American and British conventions, I think Hundred twenty-eighth notes are infinitely more acceptable than Quasihemidemisemiquaver (which is just ridiculous). So dotted-quarters it is.



Well here is what I came up with straight out of undergrad with only a few non-Brahmsian compositions under my belt.



Today I look at the 4th note of bar 67 and ask aloud why anyone would bother to shift down for the last half of that first dotted-quarter beat, hence the awkward 2-4, 2-4. A more optimal solution could be staying up in position with the first finger leaning back, anchoring down the fourth note (pitch: D) , then crossing over to the A-string and have the first finger already in position to hit the G (basically a G 7th arpeggio).



I would be curious to see what kind of numbers other violinists have come up with. Share and share alike !

Klang-Bilder; Auckland

I decided to put my documentation skills to use and make my mum a field recording compilation of Auckland sounds for her birthday. She moved back to Taiwan a couple of years ago and I know she misses not being in Auckland. These recordings will go a long way towards a sort of memory-recall, of the sounds and scenes she knows so well. I will post the sounds as soon as I get my FTP sorted out.

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Sound-Images, AUCKLAND
October 2008

Point Chevalier
Beach View 1

192 Norman Lesser Drive
Front Porch
Backyard (1)
(Backyard from Upstairs Window)

One Tree Hill
Archery Club
West Parking Lot

Devonport / North Head
Bunkers/Tunnels
View towards Rangitoto Island

192 Norman Lesser Drive
Backyard (2)

Point Chevalier
Beach View (2)

Tomorrow Night in Berlin!!

Even though I am not appearing in this upcoming fascinating event, be sure to check it out if you are in the Berlin area. Of the musicians performing at the Bauhaus-Archiv, I have had the good fortune of working with Lucio Capece when I was visiting Berlin, and observe the work of Axel Dörner, Robin Hayward, Michael Vorfeld and Steffi Weismann. These are thoughtful artists with interesting ways of articulating their ideas through performance that will surely be thought-provoking and engaging.

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Bauhaus Archive Museum of Design, Berlin

24.10.2008,
Bauhaus-Archiv
8pm

Extended Modulator

Sound, Lights, Video project with the "Licht- Raum Modulator",
Kinectic Sculpure built by Lászlo Moholy-Nagy between 1922-1930

With support from INM, Iniative Neue Musik Berlin







Bauhaus-Archiv
Klingelhöferstraße 14
Berlin 10785








Lucio Capece (soprano sax- bass clarinet- composition)
Axel Dörner (trumpet- composition)
Robin Hayward (tuba- composition)
Ana Maria Rodriguez (live electronics)
Michael Vorfeld (lights installation and performance)
Steffi Weismann (Camera, projection)

Cover Musics Update

Cover Musics is an ongoing series of compositions for stringed instruments. The series is essentially a collection of experimental/pop/rock music covers, exploring the alternative potential of the materials through the apparatus of experimental practices on stringed instruments.

The two movements so far are now titled:

1. For Marc Sabat
2. Islington-Kreuzberg Transit

I kind of see this as a nature extension of my Transcriptions series, but a more blatant referencing of materials. Sometimes I dream of inverting Flaming Lips songs (bass-to-treble, treble-to-bass type of movement).

In the next couple of weeks, I will be recording the two pieces with composer/sound designer Charlotte Rose at the Music Theatre of the Kenney Mayer Centre, a former Radio NZ building.

The Microscore Project

The Microscore Project is an ongoing collaboration between violnist Johnny Chang and cellist Jessica Catron that began in December 2001 during their final year of the MFA Performance Program at the California Institute of the Arts, and has since led to the commissioning and performance of over 225 miniature works from artists around the world - including distinguished composers such as Pauline Oliveros, Peter Ablinger, Philip Brownlee, Chiyoko Szlavnics, Harold Budd, Michael Pisaro, Hans W. Koch and James Tenney. Each piece written for the project is approximately 30-seconds in duration and the pieces are performed back-to-back to create a larger "work" that is unique to each concert. The spirit of experimentalism results in adventures involving materials such as glass bottles, wool gloves, Snapple caps, tree branches, AM/FM radios, and even margaritas.

Los Angeles Transcriptions

What is transcription?
What is field recording?
What is there to transcribe from a field recording? (How does one go about this...)
How many different ways can the transformation take place?
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Los Angeles Transcriptions (8): La Equinita, Sunset Boulevard is a new commission for Berlin-based performers, composer Christian Kesten and trio Kammerlärm, consisting of soprano sax-bass clarinet player Lucio Capece, tuba player Robin Hayward & trumpter Axel Dörner. The work attempts to address but a few of the many questions which surround the concept of performing field recordings. Not all of the questions can or need be brought to a resolution and many solutions are possible.

La Equinita is located at the border of historic Angelino Heights on Sunset Boulevard.

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Was ist Transkription?
Was sind Feldaufnahmen/ Fieldrecordings?
Was von einer Feldaufnahme sollte man transkribieren? (Wie geht man vor...?)
Auf wie viele verschiedene Arten kann die Transformation stattfinden?
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Los Angeles Transcriptions (8): La Equinita, Sunset Boulevard
versucht, sich nur einigen der vielen Fragen zu stellen, die das Konzept, Feldaufnahmen aufzuführen, umgibt. Nicht alle dieser Fragen können oder müssen zu einer Lösung gebracht werden und viele Lösungen sind möglich.

La Equinita befindet sich an der Grenze der historischen Angelino Heights auf dem Sunset Boulevard.