nothingness

Dylan Dukat

nothingness (2020)

for flute, clarinet, english horn, and horn

Distributed By

© 2020 Dylan Dukat | www.dylandukat.com All Rights Reserved.

directions for nothingness to begin, roll a 10-sided die. record each number rolled, without repeating values, until all ten values have been recorded. then, find each number's corresponding value in the chart below. this will be the cycle of sounds you perform throughout this work. (all notes are in transposed pitch and allow for ad. lib. octave selection).

if the number represents a note... roll a 4-sided die. whatever number you land on represents the number of times you will play that note before continuing to the next sound in your cycle. then, roll a 12-sided die for each attack and apply the corresponding technique found below to that attack.

ad. lib. note durations, rhythms, and dynamics are allowed so long as they are not durations, rhythms, or dynamics represented in the above chart.

if the number represents pitchless air... roll a 4-sided die for each instance of pitchless air. whatever number you land on represents the number of times you will blow pitchless air through your instrument before continuing to the next sound in your cycle. then, roll a 6-sided die twice for each attack. the first roll will determine the relative duration of the air sound, and the second roll will determine the relative strength of the attack, as depicted below.

short gentle

2

3

4

5

6

> long strong

general guidelines the provided graph should influence musical decisions, but aspects thereof are intentionally left to interpretation. if rolled techniques are beyond the abilities of a musician, they may select a more accessible technique from the table to perform instead. the tempo is ad. lib. by musician throughout; much of the notation is determined on a relative scale rather than an objective one. determine how many cycle repetitions the ensemble will approximately perform (suggestion: 2-3). once each musician independently finishes all cycle repetitions, they should lower their instrument, signaling their completion. the final musician lowering their instrument and the wet signal fading to nothing marks the end of the work.

Directions for Electronics route reverb and delay to all performers with speakers on stage. if pre-recorded, set stage monitors low as a reference tool for stage performers and record the effects directly from daw. if live, route wet signal to stage monitors, positioned facing away from the mics for the musicians.

Reverb: 11s reverb, 65% wet/35% dry signal Delay: 1s delay, 10% feedback

nothingness d. dukat

graphical score

flute clarinet english horn horn

repeat ad. lib.

© 2020 dylan dukat, all rights reserved