Composition for Composers #1

Composition for Composers #1
These compositions seek to address the situation where there are more worthy composers than concert space can accomodate.

Nuclear Simphony #1

for 2 to 18 composers

There are 5 movements maximum in a performance each involving following number of composers. Each movement can be performed separately

Movement A-5 composers
Movement B-2 composers
Movement C-3 composers
Movement D-2 composers
Movement E-5 composers

The following is determined ahead of time.
the instrumentation
a set tempo throughout.
the tuning or tunings

Each movement can be between 90 seconds to approx. 7 minutes.

The composition is constructed in three steps.

A. The construction of a nuclear melody.
The nuclear melody is composed with each composer adding an equal part to the melody in rotation (from 1 to 4 notes) . The goal should be to maintaining enough simplicity for subsequent lines to later be written without disrupting the flow. Multiples of a quarter note with a half note being the common unit. The melody ends when a composer chooses to end for their turn.

B. Once the nuclear melody is written each composer determines where they are going write and where they are going to rest with beginning and ending points coinciding with the nuclear melody. this information is shared between composers and composers are allowed to modify their decisions.

C. final parts are written by composers  and shared either before or in rehearsal with the inserts of further rest allowed and minor changes.

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Nuclear Simphony #2 for percussion
(two versions - pulse based or time based)

for 3 to 16 composers each writing for one percussion player.

The following is to be determined in advance:
A.The instrumentation based on available percussion instruments.
B. The number of movements (1-x) each with a set tempo or time scale

This composition is based on the idea of a nuclear melody except of rhythm. The next step is instead of having a set rhythmic point that is shared by all,  rests or silences are used instead

The composition is constructed in three steps.
A. Taking the set tempo or timescale, each composer in rotation composes points or spans of rest in which will remain silent during the piece. If a pulse is present, A rest should be at least one beat long. A composer chooses the ending of the piece instead of inserting further rest. 

B. Each composer composes their own section incorporating these areas of rest.

C. upon comparison before or during rehearsal slight modifications of each part is possible.
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New party pieces
For any number of composers
starting at the end each composer composes a bar of music plus 2 notes of the preceding measure. and exquisite corpse in reverse.
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The Curved Space of Tetrachords
for any number of composers
(two possible versions)
live version:
instrumentation is determined beforehand.
each composer picks a tetrachord in a specific range and composes up to 20 seconds of music using it solely. volume is determined by the duration with ………..
each composer chooses the duration of rest following it up to 30 seconds afterwards. Pieces are played back in random order.


electronic version:
Each composer picks a tetrachord in a specific range and composes and records it

The Term Microtonality: Strict or Loose interpretation.

I try to avoid the word Microtonality like the plague. I never mention it on releases except for one time i included one sentence for which I was called out for by one critic (sic?).
If though we are going to tolerate the term , which encompasses more and more each day, perhaps it might be good to draw the line in the sand somewhere.
As a start and to get to the point:

 It should be intentional. For instance, accidental deviations from say, the standard scale need not apply. A lack of directionality might also be in keeping here, say not the result of a random choice of objects or even a process. A scale though determined by ear should be included as a valid method even if no math is involved.

 It should be a feature in the approach to the music. If not then perhaps we might start calling the miked acoustic guitar of a folk singer, electronic music. Technically it is, but also trivially too. Basically if it can removed without changing the character and expression of the music, we might be better to refer to the music what features the music is actually using.

In terms of other cultures, for the time being, it seems ok to refer to any intonational practice outside one's own as microtonal. In turn those in those culture should in turn be allowed to return the favor. In the long run, it might be better to limit it to being outside the cultures at hand, assuming an uncentered norm, even if the practice seems limited to one cultural practice at the moment.

For myself , I am going to use my own term Mesotonal explained back here

Pictures of a Meta-slendro Bass Marimba

 

Still researching other resonator options but this works for the time being.