VIDEOS
The title of Gordon Stout's work Wood That Sings reflects the composer's concept of the quality of sound from the marimba. Inspired by various works for solo guitar, this 2-mallet composition gives players a chance to exploit the expressive capabilities of the marimba.
Gr@w£ix (Grawlix) uses loops in a similar way to DJs and other live performers. Material is played, recorded, and played back while something new is recorded on top of this loop. This process continues any number of times to stack material and create the effect of multiple players from just one person. The material of Gr@w£ix is inspired by electronic dance music fused with a contemporary percussion style. The term grawlix refers to a string of typographical symbols (such as %@$&*!) used in place of an obscenity, especially in comics.
"Anything Worthwhile is Perishable" uses randomized echoes and manipulated repetitions to create a lush soundscape. Several notes on the vibraphone are “prepared” by placing various metallic objects on the keys. The buzzing this creates mimics the mbira, a traditional African instrument associated with the Shona people of Zimbabwe. This movement is based around a mbira solo and the scale used by the performer is based on the traditional Nyamaropa tuning of the mbira.
Von Hansen performing an improvisation on Rita Blitt's My Friend.
Rita Blitt (b. 1931), My Friend from the Drawing with Sculpture series, 1978 Aluminum sculpture; 82 x 58 x 5 in. Rita Blitt Legacy Collection, Mulvane Art Museum
“This sculpture followed the lines of an early two-hand drawing. Because of my desire to make sculpture with sound, my friend, percussionist, composer Michael Udow, showed me how I could have rods attached to the back, which when plucked would vibrate and hit each other making sound. My Friend was later used in a vibraphonist performance to be plucked and stuck with mallets.” -Rita Blitt “Rita was working on the sculpture, “My Friend,” (1978) and contacted me as she envisioned this work as a sound sculpture playable by visitors. I described the kinetic sound sculptures of Harry Bertoia; we discussed the possibility that other component parts of the sculpture might also produce interesting sounds when struck. Rita and her team fabricated the addition of rods that could be struck or plucked. Rita considers “My Friend” as her first collaborative exploration with another artist; I was pleased to be a small part of that interaction.” - Dr. Michael Udow
Graffitis by Georges Aperghis is based around a German poem that deals with a soldier who is wrestling with the memories of his time in battle. The piece is a decent into madness and suicidal thoughts driven by PTSD.
Suite for Prepared Vibraphone is a series of pieces composed for a vibraphone with various objects affixed to or placed between the bars.
The preparations include:
Coins taped to the top of the keys to create a sizzle effect.
Tambourine jingles placed on top of each other make an articulate “chick” accompanying the natural bar sound.
Guitar strings affixed to the bottom of several keys almost sound electronically altered.
Foil packets filled with rice develop a soft resonant fuzz.
Erasers placed between the low notes allow these notes to be dampened while the rest of the notes resonate.
------
ABOUT THE PIECE:
This composition was inspired by John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano (1946-1948). Similar to Cage’s work I strived to make a multi-moment work in which the feel of each movement is a drastically different. The idea of creating angular, articulate music, introspective resonant music and intensely aggressive music from the same set of preparations was an exciting challenge.
I. Oblique is an introduction into the sound world of the preparations keeping the textures isolated within in each gesture.
II. Transcendent begins to combine the prepared sounds with the natural sound of the vibraphone using a constantly reoccurring 5 note row.
III. Incessant blends all of the preparations together in an intense, aggressive and persistent finale.
-Von Hansen
Suite for Prepared Vibraphone is available through C. Alan Publications http://www.c-alanpublications.com/sui...
Audio