Bluets (2013)
[SCORE] | [Vimeo] | [Soundcloud]
Movements
I. It began Slowly
II. The Photograph
III. Blue Light
IV. Blue Eye
V. Memory
VI. Light
Instrumentation
electric guitar, percussion, and fixed media (narrator and processed sounds)
Text by
Maggie Nelson
Duration: 9' 47"
Performers
The Living Earth Show (Travis Andrews, Andrew Meyerson)| Sarah James, Narrator
Performances:
The Center for New Music | San Francisco, CA | March 29th & 30th 2013
About
The work itself condenses pieces of the story into a monologue. The vignettes unfold via a processed pre-recorded narrator and text. When performed live the performers play along a fixed media track (a combination of the narrator and processed sounds) and a video (a series of images and text) that is projected onto a screen or wall. The piece is divided into 6 movements that serve as musical vignettes. It is worth noting that the music is written as an emotional reaction from a reader's perspective (more specifically the composer's) and is not directly a reflection of the narrator's actions or emotions.
Most of the sounds in the piece are meant to represent light or shades of blue. In some instances pink noise is meant to re-create the sound of a town next to the sea. My goal was to enhance the visceral reaction of the reader or listener. For this piece I placed the listener in my shoes as I read the story, you're hearing my reaction, but in order for the piece to be successful I had to allow every listener to relate to the text using their own memory and experiences. Two things came from this. One, was that not all the text would be spoken, some of the text would be projected so every reader can experience the text in their own voice. And two, the climax of the piece contains absolutely no music or sound. The climax in the fifth movement titled Memory is a combination of text being projected and 37 second of silence.
The film that accompanies the music and narrator is a series of shots of light hitting different surfaces. In order for the performers to play completely in sync with the video without the usage of a click track, I asked the performers not to play in sync at all. The piece itself is completely unmetered. What I've done is created a soundscape in which the performers live in. I restrict what notes can be played in any given passage and allow them to hit those different notes in whichever ever order they see fit. As a result the score has only 32 notated notes.
Movements
I. It began Slowly
II. The Photograph
III. Blue Light
IV. Blue Eye
V. Memory
VI. Light
Instrumentation
electric guitar, percussion, and fixed media (narrator and processed sounds)
Text by
Maggie Nelson
Duration: 9' 47"
Performers
The Living Earth Show (Travis Andrews, Andrew Meyerson)| Sarah James, Narrator
Performances:
The Center for New Music | San Francisco, CA | March 29th & 30th 2013
About
The work itself condenses pieces of the story into a monologue. The vignettes unfold via a processed pre-recorded narrator and text. When performed live the performers play along a fixed media track (a combination of the narrator and processed sounds) and a video (a series of images and text) that is projected onto a screen or wall. The piece is divided into 6 movements that serve as musical vignettes. It is worth noting that the music is written as an emotional reaction from a reader's perspective (more specifically the composer's) and is not directly a reflection of the narrator's actions or emotions.
Most of the sounds in the piece are meant to represent light or shades of blue. In some instances pink noise is meant to re-create the sound of a town next to the sea. My goal was to enhance the visceral reaction of the reader or listener. For this piece I placed the listener in my shoes as I read the story, you're hearing my reaction, but in order for the piece to be successful I had to allow every listener to relate to the text using their own memory and experiences. Two things came from this. One, was that not all the text would be spoken, some of the text would be projected so every reader can experience the text in their own voice. And two, the climax of the piece contains absolutely no music or sound. The climax in the fifth movement titled Memory is a combination of text being projected and 37 second of silence.
The film that accompanies the music and narrator is a series of shots of light hitting different surfaces. In order for the performers to play completely in sync with the video without the usage of a click track, I asked the performers not to play in sync at all. The piece itself is completely unmetered. What I've done is created a soundscape in which the performers live in. I restrict what notes can be played in any given passage and allow them to hit those different notes in whichever ever order they see fit. As a result the score has only 32 notated notes.
Some Stats!
- The entire piece is based on a chord progression from Leonard Cohen's song "The Famous Blue Raincoat." While the piece itself does not reference this, the song is featured and quoted in the book Bluets.
-The opening is the chord progression from that Leonard Cohen song, played in reverse, very slowly.
- The word fuck is used 7 times in the course of 3 minutes.
- All the electronic sounds were recorded using two wine glasses which I processed.
- The Climax is in fact 37 seconds of silence.
- The piece is 10 minutes long but has only 32 written notes.
- The narrator's voice was dropped a major third digitally to create a grittier soundscape.
- The original concept of the piece was to make the entire monologue sound like it was a phone conversation.
- The entire project was shot and recorded using only handheld devices.
-The opening is the chord progression from that Leonard Cohen song, played in reverse, very slowly.
- The word fuck is used 7 times in the course of 3 minutes.
- All the electronic sounds were recorded using two wine glasses which I processed.
- The Climax is in fact 37 seconds of silence.
- The piece is 10 minutes long but has only 32 written notes.
- The narrator's voice was dropped a major third digitally to create a grittier soundscape.
- The original concept of the piece was to make the entire monologue sound like it was a phone conversation.
- The entire project was shot and recorded using only handheld devices.
Credits and Thank You's
The audio was recorded live on March 30th at the Center for New Music in San Francisco, CA.
Music Performed by The Living Earth Show
Narrated by Sarah James
Text used with Permission of Maggie Nelson (Author) and Wave Books (Publisher).
A warm thanks to Maggie Nelson, Wave Books, Heidi Broadhead, Andrew Meyerson, Travis Andrews, Sarah James, Christopher Mesa, Dan Becker, Roxana Waterman, Danny Clay, and Matthew Siegel.
Music Performed by The Living Earth Show
Narrated by Sarah James
Text used with Permission of Maggie Nelson (Author) and Wave Books (Publisher).
A warm thanks to Maggie Nelson, Wave Books, Heidi Broadhead, Andrew Meyerson, Travis Andrews, Sarah James, Christopher Mesa, Dan Becker, Roxana Waterman, Danny Clay, and Matthew Siegel.