Mason Bates "Stereo is King"

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STEREO IS KING

commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the MusicNOW series at the Harris Theater.

PROGRAM NOTE

Stereo Is King exists at the intersection of indigenous percussion sonorities and lightning-fast electronica grooves. Throughout the piece, the marimba is shadowed by a set of Thai gongs, which produce slightly bent pitches when laid flat atop foam. The antiphonal interplay between these two players is further enhanced by hard-panned stereo effects in the electronics, and a third player supports them by on a 'toy drum set' of baby rotos toms and woodblocks.

The heavy, almost tribal music of the opening, featuring Tibetan prayer-bowls, quickly transforms into something much more shattered (perhaps akin to the cutup music of drum 'n' bass electronica rhythms).

An ambient, surreal middle section explores the Tibetan prayer-bowls more lyrically, with processed prayer-bowl recordings wafting by. When things become restless again, the fast-paced antiphonal music of the opening returns with a vengeance.

INSTRUMENTATION

Percussion 1

5 Tibetan prayer bowls tuned to: marimba

glockenspiel

2 crotales:

Percussion 2

Tibetan prayer bowl tuned to:

14 small Thai gongs, laid flat atop foam, sounding similar to a marimba:

vibraphone

glockenspiel

2 bongos

2 crotales:

Percussion 3

5 rotos toms tuned to:

arranged 4 toms as a set hi-hat, suspended cymbal, & ride cymbal

2 wood blocks kick drum

glockenspiel

2 congas

3 crotales:

Electronica: triggered on a laptop by a musician following score !software sampler downloadable from composer!s website"

SPEAKER SETUP

• 2 high-quality stereo speakers (with at least a 12” woofer for decent bass response) - placed behind ensemble on left & right sides

• a few small, onstage monitors (to allow the ensemble to hear the electronics) - even with speakers behind the ensemble, these monitors are essential please do not omit them from the setup

• three earbuds for the click track

• someone sitting in the house to monitor the volume -once the volume is set, there should be no need for adjustment -but it’s always safe to have a trusted set of ears at the mixing board!

• amplification of the ensemble, if possible, will give greater expressive freedom

= house speaker

= monitor

HOW TO LOAD THE ELECTRONIC FILES

To stay in sync with the electronic track, the players use a click track. Ideally, the click comes through a very small earpiece that is not visible to the audience Two options:

SIMPLEST: 2 channels (Electronics & Click in mono)

• use the file “StereoIsKing Click(L)+Elec(R)”

• either burn to a CD or play through iTunes

• route the L channel to the earbuds and the R channel to the house system

• there is a 1-measure countoff in the click track

BEST: 3 channels (Elecronics in stereo, Click in mono)

• you will need a music sequencing program* and an audio interface† that can output the three channels

• take the files “StereoIsKing ELEC 116pm ” & “StereoIsKing CLICK 116bpm” & drop them at start sequence

• route the Click to your earbuds and the Elec to the house system

• there is a 1-measure countoff in the click track

* GarageBand, Ableton Live, Digital Performer, Logic

† MOTU 828, M-Audio

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