A Virtual Ghost

A Virtual Ghost for string quartet and video

2020

Julie Herndon with Stephanie Sherriff

Duration: variable ~5-9 minutes PROGRAM NOTE Self-reflection, attuning to the minutia of your living self in pixels and lumens. Is it possible to reanimate that moment? And if so, what is lost in the process, along the way, what do you find instead?

PREPARATION First, distribute an audio score of the following prompt. This is available from the composer or can be remade. If recording the prompt yourself, allow enough time for movement to occur between phrases.

Ghost prompt Begin by standing in a neutral position, balanced between your feet and breathing deeply. As you listen, act out what you hear as simply as possible. When there are specific physical instructions, I’ll give a cue [in a whisper]. Otherwise, please improvise your response.

----You are a ghost.

You are made of smoke, held together by thin, clinging plastic wrap.

The plastic wrap is so thin, it could burst at any point.

Inside the plastic wrap is a heart like a flashlight, [bring light to chest] looking for... patrolling for… danger.

This heart, like a lighthouse inside your skin, can see what you’ve accomplished stretching out around you like stars.

You stand tall.

You are at your best.

You have achieved your wildest.

Your arms have reached for and attained every dream. [tuck light into pocket, then with your right arm:] You reach an arm forward.

Grasp a dream.

And hungrily bring it close to your flashlight heart.

[With your left arm] You reach for and grasp another, But feel it puncture your thin, clinging plastic wrap skin.

Watch the smoke leave your body like birds flying south.

As a ghost you can go anywhere. [walk out of frame] -----

Record video of each performer responding to the audio score. These will be used in the video score.

Chapters: Each video is divided into chapters as divided in the written score: 1. Ghost Smoke; 2. Heart Flashlight; 3. Reach Grasp; 4. Reach Puncture; 5. Ghost Go; 6. Empty Space. Instructions for each chapter are also provided in the written score.

Written Score: The score describes the relevant gestures and accompanying sounds. The pitches are based on the harmonic series in G and are notated using Sabat and Schweinitz’s Extended Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch Notation (2008, 2014).

-27.3 cents

+25 -65.3

PERFORMANCE NOTES Live Video: Layer chapters from each of the solo videos. Each layer may be a different color, which will help distinguish it from the others.

Cycle through each chapter, modulating speed and brightness, bringing different players to the foreground.

Quartet performance: Play material corresponding to these guidelines: Play what you see § If your video is visible, play the corresponding sounds from the score § If your video is not visible, rest § If multiple videos of you are visible, combine the corresponding sounds, emphasizing the brighter image Brightness = dynamics § If your video is barely visible, play softer than the other players § If your video is the brightest, play louder than the others Wild card • At any point, you may improvise a brief solo, texture, or otherwise unique sound fitting within the world of the piece

Virtual Ghost - Herndon

Chapter

Prompt

1

2

You are a ghost. You are made of smoke, held together by thin, clinging plastic wrap. The plastic wrap is so thin, it could burst at any point.

Inside the plastic wrap is a heart like a flashlight, looking for, patrolling for danger. You stand tall. You are at your best. You have achieved your wildest. Your arms have reached for and attained every dream.

Video

[example filter parameters]

Sound

Focus

Imagine you are watching yourself float in a pool of static, your nervous system hissing and popping.

Filter the quality of the noise in response to visible or imagined micro-movements of the hands, head, and breath.

Each player develops a unique sound for noise so that their response is audibly distinct.

Possible methods for varying noise include: - bowing instrument body and/or tailpiece - circular bowing muted strings

Transition from noise to pitch as arms move to chest. Holding Heart pitch on III, violins gliss. on IV up and down a third, oscillating with heart movement (right/left, up/down, in/out) as if one direction is a lower pitch and the other a higher pitch. Lower strings hold G. Harm. gliss. if flashlight beams into lens.

Virtual Ghost - Herndon

3

4

You reach an arm forward, grasp a dream and hungrily bring it close to your flashlight heart.

You reach for and grasp another, but feel it puncture your thin, clinging plastic wrap skin. Watch the smoke leave your body like birds flying south.

Hold heart pitch on III. Gliss. up II as RH stretches outward. + m.s.p. on highest pictch with hand grasp, then gliss. downward as hand lowers to heart. `

Hold RH pitch on II. Gliss up I as LH reaches +gettato with puncture. Gliss downward as LH lowers. Hold I and II when hands are at heart then dim. to noise as hands lower.

Virtual Ghost - Herndon

5

6

low

pitch

high

As a ghost you can go anywhere.

ord.

As if stepping into puddles of static, a soft swell of white noise follows each step like a splash.

bow pressure

flautando

Following the light in the room like a shadow, 2 players harm. gliss. on G 2 harm. gliss. on all strings