Small Groups (3-5 Instruments)

I initiated the laboratory sessions with small

groups comprising 3 to 5 musicians. I experimented

with ensembles of the same instrument family, such

as 3 pianos, 4 saxophones, 4 strings, 4 voices, etc.,

as well as heterogeneous combinations. I tested

various groupings to develop my ability to discern a

specific sound that aligned with the main requirements

I identified through the analysis conducted in the

previous semester. With fewer players, I could

concentrate on exploring timbre, articulations, and

traditional as well as extended techniques to achieve

the desired sonority. Part of this process involved direct

collaboration with the instrumentalists at the end of the

previous semester. I also organized specific meetings to

work on individual instrument preparations (To produce

and later analyze the glitch-electronic compositions (De-composition / Re-construction), I had to listen to them repeatedly, meticulously dissect and examine the music, notate it, and assimilate them. This process unconsciously created an archive, providing a model of examples I could reference, forming a rudimentary language pattern.

I recorded every session with a condenser microphone (AKG - 414 / AKG - 214 / NEUMANN TLM 103 / 102) for each individual instrument. This served the dual purpose of reviewing the music and creating a documentation of the process. Additionally, it allowed me to capture each sound with the perspective of potentially gathering new material that I could later process and re-edit, as in PART I of my project. Subsequently, I used the recordings of different ensembles as pieces of a puzzle that I could compose at my discretion. This involved experimenting with combinations of timbres and movements among instruments that had not traditionally played together. This approach expedited the overall process and provided me with a clear sense of the general picture, serving as an efficient tool for constructing the musical structure for my compositions.

I set up an audio interface with multiple outputs to send the different metronomic pulses independently to the musicians. Initially, I controlled the pulses using a MIDI generator in Ableton. Later, I developed a simple metronome device* in Max4Live for more precise control.

I aimed for the pulse to provide comfortable support for the musicians, typically using tempos ranging from 40 to 100 bpm. I experimented with various metronome intercorrelations, including sections where we started from the same bpm and then slightly diverged from it. I set each metronome differently with intervals of 2 to 5 bpm between them. This resulted in parts of the group playing at a slower tempo while others played at a faster tempo, and so on. The metronome provided them with a grid, and the challenge was to determine "what" and "how" they could move and expand within that framework.

The musicians who contributed to the laboratory include: