Because of its electronic complexity, the music does not compress well into mp3, but it still serves as my best mp3 example of electronic composition. I offer it in two sections:
To see a review describing Desert Night as "a wonderfully atmospheric paean to open spaces," click HERE
To see an article with photo from Desert Night AND mention of Whisper Rain Sister Stone (both my music), click HERE
"Desert Night" was created entirely within the onboard memory of a Korg M1 synthesizer. I would add layers until the memory was full, dump those few minutes to cassette tape, clear the Korg's memory completely, and then start layering what would become the next few minutes of the music. It is a "poor man's way" to get around the challenge of not having anything more than the oh-so-finite onboard memory - far from "ideal," but extremely practical.
Though I adore composing for live musicians, this was a great opportunity to "orchestrate" without the high cost of musicians/rehearsal time/recording/mixing/etc. Given the limits, Desert Night remains, to me, a deeply satisfying example of "electronic orchestration." It captures my sense of both the velvet eternal depth of desert in darkness, and the crispy clarity of each isolated skittery scritch across the desert floor. It was inspired by Dana Martin's choreographic sensibility, which I had always so enjoyed in her class combinations, and was now finally composing for in concert context.
The overall form is roughly an ABA' design, and the two excerpts offered below both begin with a form of the "vast dark" theme, and include variations of the "spaced clicks" and "rippled sevens" framed by the "dizzying pitch shifts."
Dana Martin's choreography began in very low light, with dancers so effectively intertwined as to present the stunning illusion of being large mysterious "creatures" of some kind, which slowly unfolded to recognizably human forms, which then began interacting in ways both playful and mesmerizing. Eventually, the advent of the bright light of desert dawn abruptly closes the door on this fascinating otherworld.
"July/ August/ Distant Christmas" grew into its final triptych form over the course of six months. First, since I was teaching dance at a summer arts camp (Appel, in New Jersey) July was written for their July show, and was first seen with my own choreography. Four weeks later, August (again, first seen with my own choreography) was played in their August show. After summer had ended, Paulette Brockington (who had been teaching dance at Appel also) asked for a third section, and funded a recording session where a flute, a cello, and I played "live to two-track" to make a nice tape. She then made fresh choreography with the complete triptych for her group DanceDetroit to take on tour. Dana Martin has also used July, by itself, for a small choreography.
This is an example of acoustic chamber music, and has actually been played by various small groups of musicians, including (my favorite configuration) a marimba/flute/violin/cello/voice/piano version. This mp3 version features cellist David Shumway, with myself on piano and background voice.
To see an article with photo and mention of the music (this piece "boasts" a Kathy Pierson score), click HERE
This piece combined synthesized sequences, recorded repetition of a few words, recorded sound effects of rainfall and tumbling rocks, and a live choral group of women (myself included) on stage singing while moving (costumed as a literal Greek chorus). It was performed in two very different venues, presenting an interesting challenge both visually and acoustically.
