Track 1 MassArt 2009
Track 2 SOUNDSCAPE 2007, Fort Point
Track 3 MassArt 2009
Track 4 MassArt 2009
At SOUNDSCAPE 2007, detailed on the “SOUNDSCAPE PROJECT” page, musicians are arranged in a chain, each one only connected to their left and right adjacent musicians , all playing the same tune. The style of music was Jazz, as heard in Track 2. The other files are from our performance at the Mass College of Art Alumni Awards Dinner, where the signal of a lead group was received by other groups, each between 75 and 100 ft. apart. We utilized music from different cultures around the globe, with a strong percussion and string element. In Track 1, a classically trained violinist can be heard alongside an electric guitar and various percussion instruments from African, South American, and Middle Eastern music traditions. This is representative of one facet of the sound that we are currently working with.
In Track 3, a 79-string instrument from the Middle East, called a “qanun”, can be heard. The energy and spontaneity heard here is something we will capture with a larger group, using both improvisation and simple orchestrated arrangements. Other elements such as a more spacious sound via grouped violins as can be heard in Track 4, or the use of electronic sound manipulation may also play a part. The particulars of a space or venue where we perform will help steer exactly what direction we take.
In Track 4 a guitar and violin interact with each other indirectly. These musicians were separated from each other by a 75 foot corridor, but were playing along to the same signal from the lead group, sent to a monitor speaker at their locations. The lead group was about 100 ft. away from the guitarist and twice that from the violinist. Their playing fits together, even though they cannot hear each other. When members of the audience move between these instruments, they control the sound mix. With SOUNDSCAPE, there are sweet spots of different characteristics in different areas that draw people in. These spots, and the search for them, become something that drives the social interaction of people when attending an event. Somehow conversation with total strangers becomes more natural as people experience this phenomenon together, in these areas. Intimacy is created by the sound and the physical layout of the space.