Philip Von Zweck's radio show, "Something Else" November 6th 2005, 10th anniversary.
I played one prepared piece, and did an improvisation later on the show also.
I.
The Vagaries of Music Education.
A live improvisation in tandem with a recorded
composition.
The concept for this piece occurred when I came across
some rehearsal tapes from my school years of
playing a banal rhythm at different tempos on a
practice pad. I instantly remembered the late-night
session in the institutional white room in the
basement of my university. When I heard the track, I
felt nothing but frustration that by the time I
graduated, I had put myself under immense pressure to
emulate an absent abstraction, yet knew nothing about
how to express my own tastes. In this brief
four-part improvisation I attempt to weave something
of interest from these mindless exercises.
This piece is in four parts.
Introduction by Philip VonZweck (:15)
Vagaries of Music Education (15:02)
II.
This Improvisation was done with the same multi-percussion set up. It consisted of what you see in these pictures.
Improvisation 2005.11.06 (27:06)
0:00 Bodhran (traditional irish frame drum) played with fingers.
1:15 Bodhran played with a small double-headed mallet.
4:32 Metallic percussion, dominated by the examination of Indian elephant bells,
often with their clappers muted.
6:43 Bass Drum: a kick drum. With unchanging tambre and limited dynamics, I concentrate on achieving a random sound and avoiding patterns.
9:54 China cymbal. The continuous sounds contrast previous movements. Eventually
they always degrade into uneven rhythm.
13:16 Metal Bowl played with fingers. This section uses two voices in both unison and counterpoint.
16:43 the full set up. This last section is a drone in the china cymbal and clusters of noise approaching from other angles. A crude melody develops.