Pannotia: Tjoritja (2025)
Tjoritja is a “proof-of-concept” small ensemble work that was created as part of the trialled a development process for Tectonic: Pannotia. It used a simplified score, distributed to iPad over a local network in the Decibel Scoreplayer's Canvas Mode. The feedback from this performance, was that the score could be simplified further as they were superfluous, distracting or both: this included the words “high” and “low”, the second dynamic, tempo number and flashing metronome. These were removed from the Pannotia score. However, it was suggested that having a text prompt indicating the subsequent texture would assist creating transitions from one section to the next.
The work was created for a performance at Jon Rose's Corrugations series in Alice Springs, central Australia and takes the title Tjoritja from the indigenous name for the mountain range adjacent to (and surrounding) Alice Springs.The range is believed to have been created by between 630-520 million years ago, by an unusal intraplate folding of the Australian continental block.
Performances13 Jul 2025, Corrugations 23 Cat Hope (flute), Lindsay Vickery (bass clarinet) and Luìz Gubeissi (double bass)
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Tectonic: Pannotia (2025)
Pannotia is third “Tectonic” series (2008-26) composition, exploring the concept of a score-based non-linear composition with groups of musicians performing textures that interact analogously to Tectonic plates. A set of studies named after primorial "orogenies" (sites of tectonic collisions), Ancient Oceans and organisms. The series has evolved through a range of different approaches works investigating indeterminate structure and independent tempi (Tectonic: Vaalbara (2008), generative and collision avoidant notation (Tectonic: Rodinia [2016]), open and “extended” forms of notation (Iapetus Ocean [2020], Mirovia Ocean [2021], generative textures (Medusoid [2022]) and textural prompts (Tjoritja [2025]). In the development process, a performance practice has evolved together with the technological capabilities of each work.
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Pannotia extends the Tectonic series into telematic practice, through a distributed networked digital score using the Decibel Scoreplayer App. It was the first work using the App's "Canvas Mode" (2017) to synchronise and coordinate a telematic performance in multiple locations over a Wide-Area network using an external computer to send live draw commands to multiple devices. The work sent individual animated realtime scores for 14 soloists and ensembles. It demonstrated that this approach as a promising and expandable medium for telematic score distribution, that enhances “telepresence” in a distributed ensemble.
Performances |
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NOWNET ARTS CONFERENCE 2025: EASTERN HEMISPHERE Network Arts in Contemporary Culture, Concert Demonstration: A Performance of Large Ensemble Works. Edith Cowan Telematic Ensemble, Monash University (Melbourne), University of Sydney, Australian Institute of Music (Sydney), Griffith University (Brisbane), and the NowNet Arts Lab Ensemble (New York, Boston, Toronto, Vienna, Sao Paolo).
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Lumanous (2025) for Lumatone Isomorphic keyboard
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The work was created for the Lumatone Isomorphic keyboard - first released in 2020 - an instrument designed to simplify performance in non-standard, non-chromatic scales. The Lumatone has hexagonal keys, meaning that shapes formed by the pianist’s hands will always play transpositions of the same chord or collection of notes. The keyboard is illuminated in different colours because each key is “reassignable”.so that the performer can see the geography (in colours) of each new scale.
Lumanous is an "interface" rather than a fixed composition, with unique behaviours that can’t be achieved with an acoustic instrument: the performer to control the shape (envelope), timbre, and amount of glissando and vibrato on each note via touch. The design uses an approach best described as “stochastic Interaction” in that the improviser is dealing with an interface that is always reacting slightly unpredictably, encouraging the player to explore and experiment. |
The scales used in the piece are derived from from the most prominent resonant frequencies of the room in which is was first performed - the Richard Gill Auditorium - using “Impulse Response" data created by Forrest Creative Fellow Mary Rapp.
Performance
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20251004 4 Oct 2025 Stewart Smith, Piano Panoply, Richard Gill Auditorium, Edith Cowan University
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Pannotia: Wuyi-Yunkai (2025) for flute, clarinet, viola, guzheng and percussion (tanggu and cymbal)
Performances
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20251025 25 October 2025, TENOR2025: The 10th International Conference on Technologies for Music Notation and Representation (Beijing). bass flute: Cat Hope, viola: Aaron Wyatt, bass clarinet: Lindsay Vickery, Zheng: Zhihui and Percussion: Yang Zhiyao.
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Yeperenye Fence (2025) with Jon Rose and Hollis Taylor
This work features a fence bowed by Rose and Tyalor on the edge of Yeperenye National Park in the North Territory, in outback Australia on the 2nd of August 2025. The performance was made for a Decibel arrangement, leaving strategic spaces for Decibel’s performance to be highlighted. A score was created by Lindsay Vickery in the Decibel ScorePlayer, allowing synchronised interaction between the ensemble and the recording. Vickery’s approach aimed to situate the group “within” the contours of the recording so as to create an ambiguous mix of acoustic instrumental and recorded sound. Spectral chords appear and disappear in counterpoint to the fence. The wind arrived towards the end of the fence recording session and you can hear it in the last 2 minutes of the piece. Yeperenye is the Arrernte word for caterpillar - a big dreaming totem in that community of Indigenous Australians.
(for forthcoming release by Decibel New Music)
El Lubricato (2025) with Jon RoseEl Lubricato is an experimental musical instrument created by Jon Rose: “I found the Ikea table on the street, cut it in half (as one should) and added an 20 Litre ex-oil drum as a resonator (gift of Paul Bryant). The course of strings in the lower half of the instrument were added later after some experimentation with bowed rods proved unsuccessful. The powered bow wheels are inspired by ancient hurdy gurdy technology, and were cut by local violin maker Harry Vatiliots. Sound is from the camera microphone, there are no electronic effects." You can see a more detailed video of the instrument here.
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The recording El Lubricato is a chamber concerto with Rose on the empnymous instrument accompanied by Decibel New Music Ensemble. Interactions between the ensemble and the recording were improvised, but made in reference to a recording of Rose synchronised to a scrolling spectrogram in the Decibel ScorePlayer created by Vickery . This approach allowed an interesting combination of improvised freedom and precision.
(for forthcoming release by Decibel New Music)
