Rippling walls of cells (2021)

Akari Komura

Rippling walls of cells

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for solo melodica

Rippling walls of cells

Written for Mina Esary in part of the Nief-Norf C-P-I Summit 2021

Duration ca. 7 min

Instrumentation

Solo melodica

Program note

The piece imagines speaking the language of trees by pay attention to their barks. They express unique traits of textures and patterns, as they are aging, growing, and transforming at a slow pace. The musical exploration reflects such gradual and radial expansion of cell walls as well as the upward energy of water and nutrients traveling from soil to the crown. The score integrates actual photos of barks to be interpreted by the performer as the guideline for breath quality to play the melodica. The performance will exist as a ritual for restorative energy to emanate from the sonic exploration.

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Performers Note

You are now invited to speak in the language of the tree barks. Imagine the beating of tones as cells that construct the bark wall. Play to grow a new layer of cells, and Imagine the gradual growth of tree rings as you complete each inhale and exhale.

Follow the your own length of breaths for each bark expression. The entire piece consists of 37 breaths; 37 inhales and 37 exhales. Bracketed notes are to be sung into the instrument. Vocal should be as loud in volume as the instrument.

The area of white outlined space indicate the volume of air to flow into the instrument. The texture of the barks is to be embodied as the mood or characteristic of the sound.

For vertical bark images, interpret the shape of white-out silhouette as your breath amount which should correspond to the dynamic shapes in volume. Imagine threading your breath through the fissures in a downward direction. For horizontal bark images, interpret the shape of white-out silhouette as rhythm or articulation. Imagine interweaving the tones among the ridges from left to right.

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