for violin, alto flute, bass clarinet, percussion and live electronics
Commissioned by Washington Square Contemporary Music Concert Series
performances:
Talea Ensemble, Tenri Cultural Institute. April, 2023.
grid2 explores rhythm. The microrhythms of beating, timbre and tuning, the rhythms of mechanical and electronic modulators, and the rhythms of echo; of delayed digital copies that act as sonic mirrors and become human-machine rhythm generators. The first echoes that inspired the piece were those of cacerolazos protests in Lima in 2020 where people protested dictators by banging pots from their windows and then, in New York, of the echoes of sounds between urban buildings. Aided by live electronics, grid2 extends and manipulates instrumental functions and identity by transforming the ensemble into an assemblage that collectively oscillates between percussive and timbral functions, sometimes exploring their own independent threads, and sometimes becoming a single evolving sound. In exploring rhythm, grid2 explores one of “new” music’s taboos: the beat. The beat shows up articulating collective and parallel timelines, it oscillates between suggested and hidden beats. The title, grid, alludes to the human technique of structuring time by creating real and imaginary equal divisions of times in beats, seconds, seasons, equinoxes, solstices, years, and so on. These grids inform and contradict our lived experience of time and sound. Preliminary ideas for this piece were developed with Ensemble Klem in Bilbao, and the “guiro-cluster” technique towards the end, was developed in collaboration with percussionist Pau Vila.
Score: