Produced by Kyle Pyke and Jesse Lewis | Engineered by Jesse Lewis, John Weston, Kyle Pyke Mastered by Jesse Lewis, Shauna Barravecchio | Recorded at Futura Productions Cover Art by Jayme Yen | Graphic Design by Daniel Knapp
About Dawn
Dawn was composed as an inception, an initiation into original musical realms. Creating these three tracks and confronting the dual roles of composer and performer influenced the character of Dawn, providing us with a journey into fresh musical terrain. The first track, Aurora, is named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, symbolizing the advent of light. The interplay between electric guitar and piano in this piece suggests a potential for new sonic landscapes, inviting exploration and discovery. From the opening notes of Aurora, through the dynamic vigor of Take Chants, to the contemplative expansiveness of Image and Gravity, each piece reflects our creative journey. We aspire for Dawn to offer listeners an experience imbued with wonder and possibility.
Aurora
“Aurora” began life as an “Andante”, the opening piano rhythm coming to mind as I took a walk around the Sarasota Bay. Compositionally, I imagined that the harmonic world of the piano could shift around a repeated note ‘E’ in the guitar. I also thought that this repeated ‘E’ could become the basis for adding layers of guitar by way of a loop pedal.
After writing out that initial plan, I improvised layers of rhythmic and chordal guitar loops. The additive quality of the music, layer upon layer, raised a question: what else could be added? Of course as a guitarist, the obvious answer was to add solos.
The title situates the music as a colorful glow emerging from darkness, and the emotional journeys we might map onto that vision.
Program Notes
Take Chants
Chant has always fascinated me. It is a way of resonating the body with a sense of ancient spirituality, and peoples across the world engage it for this purpose. But I don’t sing, I play. I wanted to see whether I could transfer this bodily resonance into a new sonic space. My starting point was a realization that rock guitar power chords feature the same modal, parallel motion as medieval organum. Could these two sound worlds come together? I decided to take chants.
In linking these chants, I also sought to bring together musical genres forever separated by space, time, culture, and worldview. One could say the same of the piano and electric guitar. If my ears can bring them together, so can yours. Image and Gravity
In "Image and Gravity", the electric guitar and piano are mirror images of each other, playing music beginning in a constant rhythmic unison. These individual lines are themselves an image of the composite music, the piece as a whole. I was interested in the detailed and linear development of phrases, and the way that phrases of music can have a hypnotic quality and meaning. When the delay begins in the electric guitar, about two minutes into the piece, the sense of repetition is heightened with literal echoes, and these echoes start to populate the micro-level rhythmic space. The piece is divided into five sections on the album. It is designed as a continuous and immersive listening experience.
The first, “Victimae paschale laudes,” is by Wipo of Burgundy (ca. 995 - ca. 1050). This powerful chant for Easter Sunday, in which “death and life contend in a spectacular battle”, is still sung today for that occasion. Wipo’s chant gives way to “Puer natus est,” the joyful, anonymous music for Christmas Day. The third, slower part is based on a chant that I either can’t quite remember or made up myself. This solemn music gives way to a mystical chant (“Columba aspexit“, “Looking at the Dove”) by Hildegard of Bingen (ca. 1098-1179), head of her abbey, poet, botanist, and a killer composer.
GRAND ELECTRIC
We are a new duo of electric guitar and piano, created out of the desire to expand the boundaries of chamber music by fusing acoustic and electric worlds, and the desire to explore expressive counterpoint, concrete physicality, and sonic mass in this new genre. Both instruments' capacity for virtuosity informs the music of "Dawn", written over a period of three years."Dawn" embodies a fusion of elements and production style that is neither traditional nor completely futuristic - a statement of its own unique voice.
This project came into being with the support of many people. Grand Electric is tremendously thankful for all of the encouragement, assistance, and care of our families, friends, musical and professional communities. We thank Jesse Lewis, Kyle Pyke, and Shauna Barravecchio at Immersive Music Project and John Weston at Futura Productions for capturing and creating such amazing sounds. Huge thanks to the team at Bright Shiny Things. We are grateful for the support of New College of Florida, which generously funded this project.
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