Brass Alchemist :: for Trombone, Live electronics, Sympathetic Piano 4.1 2009 :: Performer Mark Hetzler

1st Prize Winner, 2010 SEAMUS/ASCAP Student Composition Competition

This piece was commissioned by: Trombone Professor Mark Hetzler. The only condition was that the work needed to explore the 4 elements so my mind went immediately to alchemy and its aspirations to ritualize, transform, and experiment. The "character" of the trombonist is an alchemist who engages in pseudo-shamanistic rituals to conjure up and experiment with the elements. Mid-way though the piece, the performer becomes transformed into the elements themselves. The focus becomes not just conjuring up the elements from a distance, but rather the physical embodiment of each of the elements through the trombone itself. After this complex timbral development, a cadenza between the trombone and the sympathetic piano brings us back to the very beginning as a moment of respite and to reflect on how far the trombone had become removed from itself. The work ends with one last ritual simultaneously conjuring up all of the elements.

Gjallarhorn (2015)

Performer: Lin Foulk Natural Horn 2016

Gjallarhorn (old Norse "Yelling Horn" or "the loud-sounding horn") is the enchanted horn blown by Heimdallr to herald the beginning of Ragnarök, or the end of times when the gods die, the world is destroyed, and reborn. This piece isn't about depicting Ragnarök nor a symphonic poem illustrating Norse mythological stories. Gjallarhorn, instead, is a mixing ancient and modern musical technology, a celebration of this enchanted musical instrument and its awesome powers to create, transform, and destroy. Various physical gestures of the horn create and destroy a variety of musical effects, each inspired by personalities of Norse gods.

Wandering around in the woods, something brass glimmering in the sun in the middle of a freshly plowed field catches your eye. You wander over; using your hands to brush the soil, uncovering the glowing brass object. It's an ancient musical instrument. Carefully, you pick it up and feel a strange tingling sensation flows from your fingers, down your arms and into your shoulders as you raise the horn to your face and…

Capoeirista :: Flute (Erin Lesser), Berimbau+Percussion (Gregory Beyer), Electronics,

This piece is inspired by the Afro-Brazilian martial art form, Capoeira, characterized by its acrobatic displays, aerial maneuvering, and seamless transitions between fluid and staccato motor patterns. The aim was to explore this territory in a musical composition for flute, berimbau, percussion, and live electronics. 'Samba de Roda' timbres and rhythmic patterns specific to Capoeira were abstracted as material and sewn into the overall sonic fabric. A special thanks to Due East (Gregory Beyer and Erin Lesser) and professor Larry Crook, for providing me with literature on the subject and feedback. Sadly, a live performance was not video recorded when it was performed at SEAMUS in 2012 in St. Cloud Minnesota. The audio file on the left is a recording of the performance.

Fantasia for eMotion enabled Trombone (2012-2014)

Live performance of Chet Udell, "Fantasia for Augmented Trombone" which uses for the first time the eMotion Wireless sensor interface, a modular and reconfigurable wireless sensor mesh network designed specifically for musical instruments. The piece was reworked and competed as a World Finalist top 8 in the Georgia Tech Margaret Guthman Competition in 2014.

Wakdjunkaga - The Trickster :: for Soprano Saxophpne and Interactive Electronics (2010)

Commissioned by the SEAMUS/ASCAP Student Competition 2010

"The Native American Trickster is a figure who defies category. He is at once the scorned outsider and the culture-hero, the mythic transformer and the buffoon, a creature of low purpose and questionable habits who establishes precedent, dabbles in the creation of the world that will be, and provides tools, food, and clothing to the people who will inhabit that world. He may assume an array of contradictory personae in the course of a single narrative, moving from one to the other with the skill of a practiced shape-shifter while tripping on his tail at every turn. Trickster creates through destruction and succeeds through failure; his mythic and cultural achievements are seldom intentional. 'Defining such a various creature,' writes Jarold Ramsey, 'is a little like trying to juggle hummingbirds.'" - Larry Ellis

Camera Obscura Study

For 12 Objects and Live Impulse Convolution Instructions: Four (4) performers choose what they believe to be three (3) extremely interesting sounding objects, avoiding "conventional" musical instruments. They should be able to be excited with a single strike AND sustained or rolled. Once chosen, each player arranges their 3 objects in order from lowest to highest pitch (this corresponds to L,M,H in the score). If timbres are more noisy than pitchy, the player uses creative judgment to decide how to assign L,M,H. Dynamic level should maintain p to mp. Rare/occasional accents of mf may be ok. The performers follow the score, keeping in sync using a conductor (who gives five (5) beats per ictus at BPM=60); or can keep in sync using the MaxMSP UI. The conductor will give a large gesture to indicate every third ictus (every 15 seconds). Each performer may also use a stopwatch or other time-keeping display to ensure everyone is on track. Numbers each ictus indicates how many times to strike the assigned object within that 5-second block. Experimenting with different rates and patterns is STRONGLY encouraged and you may also imitate other players; do not be boring. "C" (also colored blue) in an ictus or across icti indicates a sustain or roll on that object. DO NOT re-articulate a sustain for adjacent icti that also have a "C" -- just continue the sustain or roll until you reach an ictus without a "C". Grey icti indicate everyone is silent. These are structural "moments" in the work and should be performed as such. When you reach the end, you may either stop, or you can repeat from the top once. Each performer excites their objects in front of their own mic (or two performers may share a mic depending on available resources). The MaxMSP patch should be active (loaded and turned on) and microphones plugged into ADC channels 1-4 respectively. Instructions included with Max patch.