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A variation on the Bassoon solo.
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Making the 13 more clear with some dry spring percussion
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There is nothing like a little percussion to get the beat straight. It’s in 13, with three subdivisions of 3 and two of 2. These five subdivisions are randomly mixed up, sometimes it’s 3 3 3 2 2, sometimes 3 2 3 3 2, and so on.
Shorter Springs
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The shorter springs sound more like steel drums. They appear about 1/4 of the way in echoing the longer springs.
Some Negative Space
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Each instrument can chose what to play, or if to remain silent. When they all chose to be quiet at the same time, we get negative space.
Getting closer
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Still working on an escalation of complexity problem. Soon the bassoon will be set free to explore more territory.
Towards a larger range of complexities
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Starting simpler and adding more things.
A few older tunes
I’ve decided to put a few more tunes up somewhere other than my SoundClick page. For those who’d prefer not to have to register, and to make them available on my Facebook page. (Sorry you have to join to see it. Not much there,believe me. Details on all the songs, including source code here under “Liner Notes”.
Slide Bassoon
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I solved the problem of the slide flute, with balloon membranes. I was challenged with changing the resonant frequency of a tube, and discovered that it was dependent on the flexibility of the walls of the enclosure. Instead of a complex mechanism of sliding tube lengths, all that was necessary was a balloon at both ends. Now, the Bassoon is more complex. I must resort to computer modifications:
lf 357 0 256 -7 1 64 1 128 1.7548172 64 1.7548172 ; 7:4 g56 up 43
Slides up by a 7:4, from C to Bb. Then from Bb to C
lf 324 0 256 -7 1 64 1 128 1.1397199 64 1.1397199 ; 8:7 g23 up 10
.bassoon10 &bas.&key.e16d72h76u3&gls7:4. u0d32h34t+43&gls8:7.
Sliding mid-range bent wires
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The bent wires now have choices. So many choices:
.mid-spring1 &mi3.d32r0 r16d0h72&key.&chortang*.d72
.mid-spring2 &mi3.d28r0 r16d2h52&key.&chortang*.d48 r16d0h26&key.&chortang*.d24 o-1d0h104&key.&chortang-a*.d0
.mid-spring3 &mi3.d28r0 r16d2h36&key.&chortang*.d72
.mid-springz1 &mi3.d104r0
.mid-springz2 &mi3.d104r0
&mid-spring1. will produce a 32 beat silence, then a 72 beat chord, which may or may not slide.
&mid-spring2. will produce a 28 beat silence, then an arpeggiated chord, and another, followed by a major chord that is held for 104 beats (a measure of 13 quarter notes).
The &mid-springz*. will be silent all 104 beats. What would you choose? I have a crude randomizer that picks them for me. Different most every time.
Alex Ross picks on Zune
Frank Hecker’s blog Swindleeeee!!!!! has a post up tracking the number of Alex Ross’s favorite CD’s he could find on eMusic. Alex is the music critic of the New Yorker Magazine, an author and a blogger I follow.
I looked for the same CD’s on Microsoft Zune.net service, MarketPlace. This is a subscription service for which I pay $45 a quarter to fill my zune with tunes on the go. I can download all I want, if I wanted anything they offered. So far, the non-pop selection is woefully inadequate. Of the 18 disks in Alex Ross’s collection, I found 7 on the Zune service. That’s pretty poor. Frank found 13 on eMusic.
Here’s what I found:
Steve Reich, Music for 18 Musicians, Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble – Nope. Only the Nonesuch 9/13/05 version. No information available on who performed this or any other CD on the Zune service. Just Album title and small picture, Artist Name, and Track name. Poor.
Strauss, Salome, Teresa Stratas, Karl Böhm, Vienna Philharmonic (DG DVD) Nope. Just a few excerpts by other performers.
Handel Arias, Danielle de Niese and William Christie with Les Arts Florissants (Decca). Nope. Just one by Angelika Kirchschlager.
John Luther Adams, Red Arc/Blue Veil (Cold Blue). Yes.
Mozart, Don Giovanni, René Jacobs conducting (Harmonia Mundi). Nope. Just the Wilhelm Furtwängler version.
Previously:
Beethoven, Symphonies Nos. 3 and 8, Paavo Järvi conducting the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (BMG). Nope.
John Cage, Complete Short Works for Prepared Piano, Philipp Vandré (Mode). Yes.
Common Sense Composers’ Collective, tic, with the New Millenium Ensemble (Troy). Nope.
Beethoven, Piano Sonatas vol. 3, Paul Lewis (Harmonia Mundi). Yes.
Bach, Goldberg Variations, Simone Dinnerstein (Telarc). Available, but not to subscription users. You have to buy it for 79 cents a song.
Brahms, String Sextets, Nash Ensemble (Onyx). Nope.
Osvaldo Golijov, Oceana, with Dawn Upshaw, Luciana Souza, the Kronos Quartet, and Robert Spano conducting the Atlanta Symphony (DG). Yes, but not all tracks, only 9 of 12. Lame.
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson: Live from Wigmore Hall, 1998; with Roger Vignoles, piano (Wigmore Hall Live). Nope.
Roussel, Symphony No. 3 and Bacchus et Ariane; Stéphane Denève conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Naxos). Yes.
As Steals the Morn…: Handel Arias and Scenes; Mark Padmore, tenor, with Andrew Manze conducting the English Concert (Harmonia Mundi). Yes.
Gershwin, Piano Concerto in F, Rhapsody in Blue, Cuban Overture; Jon Nakamatsu, piano, with Jeff Tyzik conducting the Rochester Philhamonic (Harmonia Mundi). Yes.
Alexandra Gardner, Luminoso (Innova). Yes.