Broken Approach
For bass drum kit, a.m. radio’s and wind up mechanisms.
"The multi-coloured graphical score is a visual artwork in itself " Robert Lort. Read the full review here.
The percussionist uses a graphic score that outlines shapes that are drawn on instrument surfaces, or themes that are rendered spatially on each instrument and the kit as a whole. This work is made up of active sections, broken by static ‘rhythmic’ breaks that pause the forward non rhythmic motion in the piece, reversing the usual roles of rhythmic device. Wind up mechanisms, including clocks, tick away in the background, providing ‘alarms’ that wear down without breaking the onward motion. The score is presented ‘in motion’ on the Decibel ScorePlayer software, where it scrolls across a line indicating the point of performance. The piece was completed during a fellowship at Civitella Ranieri, in Umbria, Italy.
NOTE TO PERFORMERS
The majority of my compositions use scores that are read on an iPad tablet computer, using the Decibel ScorePlayer, an application available on the App Store . Any fixed media is embedded in the score, and some feature automated functions. In the case of ensemble works, multiple iPads can be networked on a LAN or over the Internet so parts can be read in a synchronised way. You should upload the score file (ending with.dsz) to your iPad from your computer via AirDrop on an Apple, or cable from a PC. Instructions on how to do this and using the Decibel ScorePlayer, more generally are included in the Application, which ships with five other scores.
Thus my works have different versions of the score, as you may see above. A PDF/PNG file of the score ‘image’, a DSZ file to upload onto the iPad for performance, and for some less complex scores, a video version. Hardcopies are also available from my publisher. You can find out more about the Decibel ScorePlayer, and how to make your own scores for it, here.
PERFORMANCES
Premiered 1 November, 2014 at the 8 Hits program, broadcast live on ABC Classic FMN
Perth, WA, June 2016, at University of WA
USA
UK
