wardang [2019] for flute, clarinet, electric guitar, harp and fixed media
Wardang is the Wadjuk Noongar word for crow. The animal takes a central role in the Noongar familial lore, along with the Mannaitch (white cockatoo) defining rules of marriage and association. The recordings in this piece were made at Mooro Katta or Mount Eliza in Kings Park Perth, and include the three-part call typical of crows in this region and a peculiar almost "mewing" sound of a young crow. All of the electronic material was derived exclusively from this material and then assembled into an audio-collage. Instrumental parts were then added for flute, clarinet, electric guitar and harp, highlights and re-enforcing aspects of the collage.
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Performance
20191212 - , St. Paul’s Church, Menora GreyWing |
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t o r b u a m m p a [2019] for flute, bass clarinet, electric guitar, harp, percussion and fixed media
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For this piece, the inauguration speeches of US presidents. Obama (2009) and Trump (2017) were edited into single words (over 4000 of them). and then placed alphabetically. It is "constraint music", more overtly processual than political. Still, it is impossible not to compare the delivery and content of the two speeches. Perhaps most surprising are the number of words used by both presidents: not just "and" (82 occurrences) and "the" (75) but also "blood", "God" and "winter". Given that the duration of the two speeches is over 35 minutes, a lot of space was closed up between the words and in a number of places the audio is accelerated to varying degrees. For the most part the instrumental parts are derived directly from the audio without any attempt at extra-musical commentary.
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common and uncommon words from "60" to "issuing".
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20191008 GreyWing - [ text ] Tura Soup Nights, The Sewing Room 317 Murray Street, Wolf Lane, Perth
20191007 GreyWing - SHOCKOFTHENEW, Sound Spectrum 2019.2 WAAPA, Edith Cowan University. 08072020 ACMC2020 Session: Listening Room 3 |
decompression [2019] for 144 musicians inside the St. Pauli Elbe tunnel
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The Old Elbe Tunnel (1911) in Hamburg is 426 m and 24 m (beneath the surface. It consists of two 6 m diameter tubes that connect central Hamburg with the docks and shipyards on the south side of the river Elbe. The work was commissioned as part of four concerts by HfMTand the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) commemorating the re-opening of the Oströhre(East Tube) of the tunnel.
The physical dimensions of the Old Elbe Tunnel are at the foundation of decompression. Pitches in the work are derived from the first 127 harmonics of Eb0 (19.45Hz), the fundamental resonant frequency of the twin 426 m tunnels. The wavelength of Eb2 (77.78hz) is 443.55m. |
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The length of the tunnel also provides a fundamental tempo for the work, derived by the length of time taken by sound to move from one end to the other (roughly 1.24s) of 74.5 bpm.
Structural points in the work are built upon 11 subset harmonic series based on prime number harmonics, progressively closer to the fundamental. Each structural point is followed by a digression into material exploring the potential physical and psycho-acoustic properties of the vast space and ensemble including: spatial and moiré patterns, polymeters, micropolyphony and other techniques. |
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The 144 performers in 12 groups of 12 positioned equidistantly along the length of both tunnels. Each performer reads their part from a synchronised“webviewer” version of the scrolling score created by Georg Hajduand Rama Gottfried.
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The 144 performers in 12 groups of 12 positioned equidistantly along the length of both tunnels. Each performer reads their part from a synchronised “webviewer” version of the scrolling score created by Georg Hajdu and Rama Gottfried.
Performance
20190526 630pm SYMPHONIE IM ST. PAULI ELBTUNNEL, Hochschule fur Musik und Theatre, Hamburg |
mechanical inefficiency [2019] for flute, clarinet, electric guitar, piano and field recording of air conditioners
Performances
20190919 Outcome Unknown, GreyWing, North Perth Town Hall, 20190517 Shock of the New - Spectrum Project Space Western Australian Academy of Music |
The work is a slowly evolving exploration of air-conditioning noise from my workplace. Field recordings of five AC units were blended and equalised to create the unfolding musical space. Quite minimal instrumental parts were added to reinforce and accentuate certain frequencies and complexes. Although it is on a far more modest scale, the work was likely influenced by my involvement in the process of Carol Robinson’s development of Éliane Radigue Occam Hexa II with Decibel New Music Ensemble. The title was contributed by engineer Adam Coffey (to whom it is dedicated) who pointed out that the beautiful sounds that machines sometime make is the result of them not operating at peak mechanical efficiency.
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qaalup [2019] for bass clarinet (or cello) and fixed mediaqaalup derives pitch, rhythmic and formal structure from a field recording made in the Fitzgerald River National Park, on the coast between Bremer Bay and Hopetoun. The region is the largest single national park in the south-west of Western Australiaand a UNESCO designated biosphere – one of only 10 in Australia and the only one in the state. It is estimated to support 12 threatened fauna and 39 threatened flora species, and contains about 20 per cent of WA's described plant species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. Quaalup, a homestead built in 1858 is the only property in the park.
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