Shrine by Brian Ciach by Brian Ciach

Shrine (SIXTH SONATA)

For Piano, Seaboard, and Seapler

Brian Ciach score

+ Piano

Hardware/Software in Shrine:

+ Roli Seaboard Block (below) + Slide, vibrato, pressure-touch musical events with a MIDI controller that the standard piano or synth cannot do + Max/MSP + Max Instrument created from scratch: + Seapler (Seaboard Block Sampler), an audio sampler

...Shrine, in the sense of creating something beautiful out of a tragic event. A repurposing of negative events or material. A musical space reaching for solace and comfort.

A shrine as a piece of music?

In Shrine, I use audio samples from horrific events to create music that expresses those events in a different light. This is my artistic attempt to process and ameliorate the trauma of 2020, and inspire unity through a musical experience.

The structure of Shrine (Sixth Sonata): + Variation form: + One unifying chord progression, The Shrine Chords:

+ Four audio samples undergo live processing (variations) on these 11 chords: I. II. III. IV.

Crowd from Capitol Riot Trump speaking at Capitol Riot: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol!” George Floyd arrest: “I can’t breathe!” Piano recording of the chord progression in reverse and played backwards

+ Piano imitative fantasia follows each audio sampling, creating a pairing or movement + Reference to traditional four-movement Sonata design (attacca, seamless movements)

This piece is provocative. +It wasn’t an easy decision to use the Floyd audio sample, in particular, because it is almost untouchable. And what happened in DC, our President inciting a mob to storm the Capitol, was horrific. +But just like a visual artist painted the phrase, “I can breathe now” on a mural, the sound artist in me decided to musically confront the Floyd murder. +Featuring the Floyd audio helps keep him in the hearts and minds of listeners so that this tragedy cannot be forgotten.

shrine (SIXTH SONATA)

Brian Ciach (2021)

For Piano, Seaboard Block, and Seapler (Max Instrument)

SEAPLER SCORE Pitch, Formant Shift, Preserve Pitch on Speed Change ON. Reverb OFF. IMPORTANT: at start, play muted sample, gradually fade in gain(s) to audible level MVT 1: CROWD (at Trump Jan 6th, 2021 Washington, DC Rally--same ﬁle as next event). Play audio in its original form at least once. PB Speed .1. Then Resonant Bank Preset 1. Play: on Trans (X) 1, slow Y gliss from 2-0.5. X Slide to 4. Y Slide to 0.5. X Slide to 1. Continue slowly in this manner. When Preset 7 is reached stop slide at X 1 and Y 0.5. Continue switching through Presets until 11 is reached. X Gliss from 1-4. Y Gliss to 2. let vibrate (lv)--continue Crowd at these settings... 1'30" to piano... ...stop Crowd.

...fade in on piano keys while the Crowd sound continues...

rapidly

◊œÿ b œ repeat * ad lib. & ‘

U Piano

œ bœ

repeat ad lib.

œ bœ

‘

repeat ad lib.

œ bœ

‘

repeat ad lib.

‘

pp (RH plays piano keyboard, LH controls Seapler) una corda, all in one sustain pedal to the chords

(rapidly)

◊>ÿ > > > 2 RH œ > > > >œ œœœ œœœ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œ œœœ œ œœœœ œœ (both hands

on keys) f

:◊; > > > > “” 3 > > > > œœœ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & cresc.

:“;>

> > > > > œœ œ œ œ œœœœœœ œœœœ> œ œœœœœœœ œ œ œb œ œ œ œ œœ œ œœ

bœ >œ œ œ œ

œ >- >- >-œ >-œ œ ? > œ œ œ bœ > œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ > œ œ >œ œ œ œ > sff

*improvise freely on these pitches.

inward, timeless, free to Seapler... silently depress RH chords, LH sff reveal sympathetic harmonics 6

##n ~~ ~~ ~

& # ~~~~ ? ∑

‚

~~ n b ~~

n‚ Æ

ord. pp

œ œ bœœœ (long press) pedal position sff changes, *"vibrato pedal" optional

{

nn#~~~~~

U ~ ~ U ~

 #nœœœ œ ## œœ sff

∑

 #œœœœ nœ-

∑

sff

lv nU ~ ‚ ~ ‚ ~ ° (2'30")

SEAPLER MVT 2: TRUMP ("We're gonna walk down to the Capitol!"--same ﬁle as above) Play audio in its original form at least once. X (4), Y (2) (unchanged from Event 1), PB Speed (.1). slow Y gliss to 0.5. lv. One cycle of Presets 1-6 triggered with LH, two chord changes per loop--switch to the next preset like this: "we're gonna...SHIFT TO NEXT PRESET...walk down to the Capitol". Y gliss in RH on swooping "dooowwn" Trump, X gliss of ascending 3rds or 4ths on second Trump swoop "CAAAPitol", vibrato on other pitches. Increase frequency of Preset changes after chord 6. lv on highest loop cycle. 2' to piano--overlap with Trump...

molto rit. q = 40 molto accel. q = 220 11

∑

∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏

("snap"

U > top voice) nb w w lv w 6U # w Ó 4 #w w w

quasi Trump

√U j œ œ U  œ #œ œ œ # œ n œ œ &

œ Ó?

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Ó™

œ #œ œ #œ nœ f

Œ & #œ œ #œ nœ œj œ œ œ Œ ? f

ø no pedal

> U 6 w™ œ œ 4 #œ #œ nœ œ w ™ “‘ U 6 œ œ œœ 4 w ™™ w #œ œ #œ nœ > ° œ œ

to Seapler... 15

(ord.)

~ & n#~~~~

~~ ~

5 4

# ~~

{

bn~~

5 4

? una corda

(3')

ø *right pedal--shift ped rapidly up and down while holding chord with hand)

SEAPLER MVT 3: FLOYD ("I can't breathe!") Play audio in its original form at least once. One complete cycle of the 11 Preset chords using the Floyd sample. Complete 1-4 X gliss on "breeeeaathe" (Y at 2). During rests at the end of the sample after "breathe", improvise incresingly dissonant chords on the piano which imitate Floyd. Increase distance between each chord upon repeat. Increase density and dynamic of chords as you reach the end of the cycle (see below). Increase frequency of Preset changes after chord 6. 1'30" repeat, vary, thicken and expand freely until cycle is complete; reach complete forearm clusters in each chord, etc., at fff

U 5 & ™™4 b œ nœ

nœ nœ

f quasi Floyd

{

? ™™5 bœ 4bœ

bœ bœ

>-œ n &œ

œ œ

b >-œ bœ

œ œ

> b-œ œ

œ œ

-œ ? b>

™™

nœ b œ>

™™

œ n œ>

MVT 4: The Shrine chords to Seapler...

inward, timeless, free

U legato 18

& n~~

~~ ~~ n~ ~ ~ # ~~

‚ n‚ Æ

~ ~ ~

n~ # n~~

# ‚j

~ n ~~

b ‚

# #~~ n ~ ## ~~ # ~

~~ ~~

sff pp

n ~~ bn~~ ~ ~ # ? ##~~ nn~~ ø ø sim. °

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 ‚ ‚

n~ ~~

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j #‚ #‚

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n ‚ n‚

nnn~~~ ~ ~

SEAPLER MVT 4 (cont.): THE SHRINE CHORDS 4 complete cycles of the Shrine Chords (recorded in backwards, played in reverse). Turn oﬀ Reson Bank. Set Trans to 1. PB Speed -1. Full reverb on. Cycle 1: Play one cycle (11 chords). Add nothing. Cycle 2: Start at X 1 and Y 2. Gradual vibrato on all chords. X Gliss up by about a 4th on all peak amplitudes (3 or 4) to highest X pitch (4). Y gliss from 2-0.5 on last chord. Cycle 3: let cycle play out at highest X and Y at 0.5 (upper right quadrant of the Seaboard). Add nothing. Cycle 4: gradual vibrato on all chords. X gliss of about a 4th on peak amplitudes from highest to lowest. Y gliss on last chord, ending this cycle at the lower left quadrant of the Seaboard. Codetta: quickly set PB Speed at -.5 (half speed), let ﬁrst two chords play. Abruptly stop at peak amplitude of second chord. lv. 4' 29

U ∑

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EPA, CA Jan-Feb, 2021