urfunk etude (1997) is for solo piano with or without electronics. In terms of the sequences of minimalist canonic material and the parallel alignments of pitch, rhythmic structure and register, it is a precursor to my string quartet Madra (1999) and other works. It also builds upon a particular piano technique that worked around my limitations as… Continue reading 1997+25 urfunk etude
Category: Archive
1989+33 Premonition
“Premonition” (1989) is a dance pop song, incorporating aspects of hip hop and jazz funk. It was recorded late at night in demo fashion, and included on my DIY album Nerve. The lyrics consist mostly of cliched phrases, satirizing the end-times though giving way to an urgent chorus. The instrumental track was created entirely on a… Continue reading 1989+33 Premonition
1989+33 Void
“Void” (1989) is an art pop song from my student days. One of my weirder, nerdier numbers, in it I still sought to be groove-based. It was recorded quickly along with other songs in a late night session, and included on my DIY album Sleepdancing. “Void” posed an existential question that required a complex musical answer.… Continue reading 1989+33 Void
1992+30 Prepared Piano Piece No. 2
Prepared Piano Piece No. 2 (1992) is an unscored, improvised work combining live performance and experimental tape technique. It was created and recorded the day after Vermilion. Both pieces are part of a set of short works for prepared piano(s) which, as it would turn out, were created three weeks before the death of John… Continue reading 1992+30 Prepared Piano Piece No. 2
1992+30 Vermilion
Vermilion (1992) was originally a song for two voices, two prepared pianos and household-object percussion, part of a set titled “Four Home Dubs” from my early 4-track cassette efforts. This instrumental presents the two prepared pianos on their own, digitized from the original master cassette 20 years later. The recording was made during a stay… Continue reading 1992+30 Vermilion
Chaos
“Chaos, Part II” was recorded through the condenser mic on a boom box in my family’s living room, thus the wildly uneven volume of the opening. It’s a barely finished sketch meant to be part of a suite on an impromptu, DIY, “pause-record” cassette album; by default, juvenilia. This was my musical childhood. I was already 18, but… Continue reading Chaos
2001+21 vale
vale (for three alto kalimbas, 2001) is a very simple piece. It consists of a melodic pattern which is built up in three-part harmony, followed by a mirror image of this process to create an arch form. It reaches its peak in a square 64 measures, inhabiting an intuitive, casual music space. It was composed… Continue reading 2001+21 vale
1991+30 Indigo Pool
“Indigo Pool” is the first song from my 1991 DIY cassette album ōo, in my lo-fi, high-concept early period. The song was composed as it was recorded, layer by layer, beginning with the rhythmic pattern in 11/8 played on two empty plastic water cooler bottles anchored by an abandoned ride cymbal I found in the… Continue reading 1991+30 Indigo Pool
Interview with James Tenney
Recorded at The Music Gallery, 179 Richmond Street West, TorontoMay 3, 2000 Paul Hodge, audio engineer This interview was the result of my wish to have a final conversation with Tenney before he and his family left Toronto for California, where he was to resume teaching at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) after… Continue reading Interview with James Tenney
Sequences
Sequences (2000, rev. 2020) is scored for percussion and two marimbas. The title refers to sequences both in the sense of a musical phrase that repeats with a variation in pitch each time (in this case, with a variation in rhythm as well), and in the sense of an arrangement programmed electronically using a sequencer… Continue reading Sequences
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