Electroacoustic Composition 7
Equidistance – An African Hymn of Praise (2007/13)
Single Movement of continuous sound for Bb clarinet, live digital effects and tape
Equidistance is a single movement, single source, electroacoustic composition realised specifically for the opening of The Capstone Theatre at Liverpool Hope University in 2010.
This relatively short movement of continuous sound is based upon an East African Hymn of Praise that the composer transcribed and part recomposed (also during 2007). The sound palette for the concrete parts was primarily (but not exclusively) prepared from the studio recordings of the live part.
The concrete parts were composed upon an accumulating ground canvas of percussive bass resonances and varied repetition in the composer’s home studio during 2009 using primary audio files recorded during 2007.
The hymn employs equidistant pentatonic scales (the octave split into five equal steps of 2.4 semi-tones). Through the use of live digital effects (harmonizer and delay), this electroacoustic piece takes a few tentative steps into the unstable realm of equidistant and microtonal harmony.
The Golden Ratio (a, is to b, what b, is to c) influences the internal proportions of the movement (loops, repetition and texture). The concrete audio is founded upon a ground-canvas of continual sound that works towards a central crescendo set within a mirror form, whilst a tri-partite form (with proportions shaped with reference to the Golden Ratio) is composed above this, providing three further crescendos.
Diffusion and Amplification:
The concrete parts have been mixed for multiple stereo-pair analogue diffusion (surround sound), with additional summated (central) mono and sub-bass (LFE) files. The clarinet is amplified throughout, but should only be mixed to a dedicated pair of speakers front and centre of the stage, either side of the musician (see score preface for further details). The work was edited, remixed, rescored and part recomposed in 2013.
Acknowledgement:
Thanks go to Nicholas Cox for recording the hymn fragments from which the concrete parts were composed.
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Additional Resources ...
A sound palette of 40 mono audio samples prepared from the soundworld of a clarinet using equidistant pentatonic microtonality. These files are available to use as open access source recordings for electroacoustic and acousmatic composers (38 MB of 16bit Wave Audio).