Simetra
Duration: ca 12'50"
Instrumentation: violin, fixed and live (wii balance board) electronics
Composed: 2018
Details: There are questions that rolled around in my head in writing this piece.
- Why do violinists move beyond the motion needed to produce sound?
- What roles does (can) the stage/space play in the performance?
- What are the timescales for sounds unfolding that I hear in this material?
- In 100 years, will it be evident that we were aware of the end the American empire?
A violinist moves to both perform with the instrument and to embody phrasing (among other reasons). SIMETRA emphasizes the standing/moving of the violinist by utilizing pressure data from the performers stance and mapping it to the control of playback parameters. These gestures gently adapt the electronic part in different ways. While this processing is present, it is not designed to be conspicuous. The piece is generated from sound recording of an improvisation by Karen Bentley's canine friend. The source material is extremely expressive. The translations of this vocal improvisation, both manually and with software mediation, retain different flavors of the source material. The material is arranged procedurally across different timescales. The articulation of space and of time support a particular way of hearing the solo violin component.
performance and commissioned by Karen Bentley Pollick