Wild (for solo violin & electronics) by laurenspavelko

Wild for violin & electronics

2016

Lauren Spavelko

Instrumentation Violin Electronics — 4-channel, live processing

Wild intermingles natural sounds, violin samples, and live violin to evoke contrasting landscapes. The live violin and samples utilize legato, tremolo, and ricochet bowing; pizzicato; and glissandi to create a variety of color. Electronic techniques such as delay, flanging, spatialization, looping, reverse playback, and speed manipulations shape the work. Their application upon the violin and environmental samples create distinct sounds and layers with relatively limited material. The sounds heard may be transparent and unaltered or may be manipulated beyond recognition. The variety of texture, articulation, and musical material establish distinct landscapes for the listener—from the ominous and barren to the serene and rejuvenating.

Performance Notes          

All cues are indicated with circled numbers. The cues are placed vertically over the moment that they should be executed. In some places, black arrows are included to clarify when the cue should be triggered. All fermatas or tied notes may be freely bowed to sustain the sound for as long as needed/desired. Stemless noteheads are used to impart approximate rhythmic relationships, rather than a strict sense of time. Generally, the motifs of slurred eighth notes are more measured. Times indicated in seconds are approximate. The opening jeté should be performed several seconds after triggering Cue 1. The opening tremolo line is “sul D” (and remains sul D until after Cue 3). The open A string is added to create dissonance and consonance against the slow glissando. At the triplets, both strings are played in unison. After Cue 1 & Cue 5, the angled beams indicate an unmeasured gradual ritardando. From Cues 2-3, all fermatas should be held long enough to permit the delay to “catch up” to the live instrument and come to a unison on the held pitch. At Cue 5, sustain long enough to allow some sound to clear before advancing Cue 6. Beginning at Cue 10, any sections marked “freely embellish” the performer may choose to play as written, to add like elements, or to repeat elements within the phrase as desired.

Patch Information & Operation To perform this piece, you will need:  An audio interface for 4-channel playback  A microphone suitable for violin for live processing  A controller operated by the violinist (for example, a pedal). Optionally, another performer may advance the cues for the violinist via the laptop or another controller.  The Max/MSP patch “Wild Patch.maxpat” found in “Wild.zip.” The file must be run out of this folder or Max/MSP will be unable to locate the required audio files. To obtain the zip folder and patch, please contact the composer at lespavelko@gmail.com  An installation of Max/MSP or Max Runtime to run the patch. This can be found on www.cycling74.com. To operate:  Once the patch is open, turn on the audio driver by clicking the microphone or speaker buttons. If they are lit, the system is on.  The upcoming cue will be displayed under “Next Cue,” and the last cue triggered will be displayed under “Current Cue.” When running the piece from the beginning, the first cue will be “0 SETUP.” To manually select another cue for rehearsal and emergency purposes, the “Next Cue” box includes a clickable dropdown menu for selection of upcoming cues. To execute the selected cue, the space bar or controller must be triggered.  Advance the cue. The patch is designed to advance cues from any attached controller or by pressing the space bar.  For emergency shutoff, the ESC key can be pressed on the keyboard.  The gain may be adjusted separately for the live input, violin samples, and nature samples for balance as needed. The overall output level can also be adjusted.

c. 4:00

Wild Lauren Spavelko

0 SETUP

20"

1 CUE VLN PLAYBACK sul D jeté

ææ ææ̇ ææ̇ œ

œœ

U b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ & œ p

U & ˙

U œ œ- œ ˙

œ #œ œ œ œ

molto accel.

5 DELAY &

FEEDBACK OFF

#w fp

œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ

(sul D)

œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ -

ord.

œ ˙

FEEDBACK ON

-j #œœJ mf

æ ˙˙æ æ

œ œ œ œ œj œ ˙

U b œ œ œ œ˙

æ ˙˙æ æ

U œ œ ˙

4 FEEDBACK ON legato

# œ n œ #œ n˙ ææ

œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

6 DELAY &

3 LOON

sul pont.

j œ b œ œ œ œ- # œ ˙

ord.

U œ œ ˙

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

gliss.

2 HAWK/DELAY ON mysteriously

rit.

molto vib. 3

molto rit.

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

æ j œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœæ #œœ ææ æ J

j œœ J-

j œœ J-û

8 FLANGING ON

#˙˙

& ˙ j œ

j œ

œœ nœœ #˙˙

j œ

œ ˙˙

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ j˙ œœ

j œ

& w

nœ œ mf

j œ ˙

œœ œœ

pizz.

10 OSPREY & G ARPEGGIO ON arco

˙˙ ˙˙

strum

∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏

∑

j œ

∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏

let echo fade pizz.

9 FLANGING OFF

˙˙ ˙

∏∏∏∏∏∏

7 SPLASH

20-30"

j œ #œ œ- œ œ- œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ - œ- ˙ mf f leisurely & tenderly

freely embellish on collection in mid and low register

j œ

15"

& ˙

˙ œ œ

œ œœœœ œ œ œj œ œ œ #œ œ ˙ œ œ - J 3

freely, add upper register

œ #œj œ- œ œ- œ œ- œ ˙

11 LOON

& ™™ œ œ œ #œ œ ˙

™™ ™™

freely, on collection, 2-3x

™™ œ œ œ #œ œ ˙

#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ˙ freely on collection

15"

j & œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ - œ- ˙ p mf f freely on collection

U & ˙

œ œ œ œ œ œ mf

13 LOOPS OFF

12 HAWK LOOP ON

sul D

j œ œ œ œ œ f

HARM. GLISS.

œ-

œ- b˙ mf

U w

14 END