Elefoo

For this piece (and the one in the previous post) I was asked if I could do something less obtrusive. That was the condition for getting the gig, so I had to comply, but I did it in my own sly way. The last posts piece was in minimalism style, and so turned this one to be (right here I was done with complying), and just as the last one there is more of improvised composition in it than process (see also: Fixed Phrase). ObviousIy, I work with 2 pitches, C and Db, and make the thematic gesture and development of the music by oscillation in varied pulse. I build the phrases by going up and down in speed, and by changing order of the pulsation modules. Depending on how you listen, the phrases will occur at different spots, at least that is how I experience it. Not only quasi minimalism, but also with minimal effort (in a way, maybe not) by the composer (me!), and with minimal technical requirements for the instrumentalist (Kang Lee). Goal met!

Sadly there were some disturbance during the concert but sometimes its just like that. Feel free to comment! :*

Performed by Kang Lee, contrabass, @ mll concert

Minimal idea

This piece might give the impression of minimalism music, however there is no strict systematic process of the notes (except maybe the constant shortening of the phrase, but this is still static). I created it with the same as usual aim, to make it easy and quick to compose and also easily playable on the bass, here achieved by using an open string between all position changes. As you can see in the score, and hear of course in the recording, the basic gesture is repeated but each bar (and the bar) it is cut short by a quaver. This extends the basic gesture from 10 quavers to a 55 quavers phrase (also see Fixed Phrase). Once a 55 quavers phrase is complete, I change one note in the 10 note gesture for making the melodic progression. The piece starts with a dissonant pitch collection of Bb, B, C, D and ends in a D major arpeggio including the octave, very consonant that is. I think it makes for a pretty good progression over the music as a whole. Feel free to comment! :*

Performed by Kang Lee, contrabass, @ mll concert

(very) short Idéa Fixé

This miniature features the minor third as the fixed idea, and on some occasions the major third. It is always thrilling to break rules. The melodic material is free and treats the two notes as an entity. Feel free to comment! :*

Performed by Kang Lee, contrabass @ mll concert

phrase fix 6

In this Fixed Phrased piece the base gesture is composed with care to be smoothly playable on the bass. To develop the music only small deviations are made, and the root of the gesture is only transposed a few times. The other material is special effects for the instrument, it does not have any specific relation to the base gesture.

Performed by Kang Lee, contrabass @mll concert

Phrase Fixé Etudé

Here goes another experiment for proving that it does not have to be all that complicated (see Fixed Phrase). The phrase is built up in consideration to be smoothly playable on the bass, i.e. there very few places where a left hand position change is not intercepted by an open string. The music is in a simple “song form”, the irregular metre helps the repeated phrase to stay interesting, and the “progression” is a pattern of transposing the phrase to root E A D or G (the open strings). Feel free to comment! :*

Performed by Kang Lee, contrabass, @ mll concert

 

Fix Fras

In this piece I try to build the music without changing the pitches, working with cutting the gesture short, repetition and rhythm. The final double stop is an experiment with the idea that “there are no ultimate choices” (see Fixed Phrase). The low open A-string is pretty much randomly chosen, except that it should be easy to play on the bass. Even if this is the most dissonant spot in the whole piece, it still works as a logical sounding end. Feel free to comment! :*

Performed by Kang Lee, contrabass, @ mll concert

Fixed Phrase

There are rarely ultimate choices. At the end of the day, especially the next day, the other path might have worked just as well. And if repeated, whatever choice has been made, it will gain logic and might eventually turn to common sense, an accepted truth. I have made some pieces exploring this musically, in a format called Fixed Phrase (see also: Fixed Idea).

The composing rules are partly set from a productivity point view: 1) There are not ultimate choices, so whatever comes up stick to it. It can be regarded as a intuition-deterministic approach. Or improvisation. 2) Repetition justifies anything in terms of logic. 3) Idiomatic approach to allow fast gestures, with no constrictions.

The recordings are from a occasion where I had little time to prepare, hence the character of the rules. There were some disturbing elements during the performance, but Kang Lee rocks as always. Audience comments included “sounds a bit cinematic”, “wow”, and “very precise playing”.

Scores and recordings will follow in the next few posts. Feel free to comment! :*

longer fixed idea

The fixed idea (see Fixed Idea) is not presented in its whole until bars 10-14, and is manipulated not only by exact transposition and early ending, but also by inversion. It occur two more times in full, and serve as a phrase ending. The perceived thematic material ends up on bar downbeats, in my ears, and the fast notes turns to (pretty) noise by keeping the internal relations constant.

There were some disturbance during the performance, but that’s life. Feel free talk about the material! :*

Performed by Kang Lee, contrabass @ trctrpll festival.

fixed idea a

This is another tryout for the fixed idea idea. Check post Fixed Idea for reasoning. It is pretty obvious what is going on, but the fixed idea is bracketed in the score. I use two points, the first and the second last, (the arrows) in the fixed idea to build the melodic contour. Feel free to discuss the music. :*

 

Performed by Kang Lee, contrabass @ trctrpll festival.

Chromatic Fixed Idea

The fixed idea is presented within the first 9 quavers, and the theme melody starts with F, Gb, Ab and so on. The fixed idea is restarted at each of these note according the concept described in the previous post. The piece is more or less improvised around the theme melody, and disregards any type of tonality.

See post Fixed Idea for more on how I reason. Feel free to comment! :*

Performed by Kang Lee, contrabass @ trctrpll festival.