Sonic Trichromacy Part 1/2

It has been quite a while since I last updated this blog. Not because I was too busy, but really because I had nothing to talk about. I have spent these months since summertime basically doing a whole bunch of teaching, learning new programs (like OpenMusic, which I used for Sonic Trichromacy), and composing new pieces. That and I have been enjoying the post-graduation life and have stuck to watching a lot more movies in my spare time instead of scrambling to analyze music and writing sub-standard papers about the same subjects. But alas! I have much to talk about in regards to my first sound installation work that had its run in Las Vegas last month at the Fifth Wall Gallery. This blog is not centered on talking about the installation piece itself, but rather the whole experience I had doing this work. I feel like doing installation work is a much different process than composition (because it is), in that the process of creating the work itself is integral to the end result. This may sound stupid, but my point is is that a composition can be created in a number of different ways, whereas I feel installation pieces have to follow a certain direction and adhere to other elements such as appearance, presentation, etc. Maybe it is much more similar to composition than I think, but the reality is that I have done ONE INSTALLATION piece compared to DOZENS OF COMPOSITIONS. Maybe if I keep doing installation exhibits I will have the same ideas about both. Anyways...

Earlier this year a group of four artists, one of which is a friend of the past few years named Eri King (a Las Vegas based photographer/video artist), approached me about doing an installation work for their inaugural exhibit at this gallery they were looking to open. I was first under the impression that this would be a collaborative work with myself and Eri at the helm that would have a run in this space that they rented from someone else; but what I quickly learned is that they were all four curators for this new type of gallery they wanted in Las Vegas.

That's neither here nor there and the point is that they had asked me, a musician, to do a sound art installation. I met the challenge with open arms, even though I went home back to Oakland that evening thinking how screwed I was having no idea what to do. During this same time I had been working with OpenMusic doing little experiments with RGB objects and turning them into data and making scores. This came from being bored with instrumental music for the time being, and wanting to do something electronic (but having no money or software to do so). So I turned to the freeware and OpenMusic was something that I had been interested in messing with for quite some time. One thing lead to another, and I decided to go with this idea and turn it into the exhibit.

I had about six weeks from the time I was asked to do the exhibit until opening day. I also had very little money (as in I had no money at all) and scattered resources to put this thing together. Dealing with the stress of my financial situation and also being at the center of the Occupy movement protests here in Oakland happening at the time, this installation piece started taking a political turn. This is an issue that was often discussed at Mills, an issue of where you put yourself as an artist when you enter politics into the equation. And this is an issue I really have no interest in discussing. All I have to say is that if anything else except the music/art is at the forefront of the presentation, then the music/art is not powerful enough to stand on its own; regardless of political, theoretical, or technological connotations. It is the same thing as throwing a really intricate and complicated musical theory about the piece my way, when the reality is it does not matter how interesting your theory is, the music still sucks! So that's it with the political thing.

I managed to scrape together my resources with much help from friends letting me borrow gear and having to purchase a few things. Altogether I managed to use what I have and spend an additional $33 on the entire installation. Not a bad outcome (except the $250 I had to drop on travel, but that's because partytime got the best of me). At any rate, I was nervous as all hell about the installation being installed smoothly as I arrived at 10am to setup, and had to be finished by 5pm because it was the opening night. I was done by noon. Everything went perfectly.

TRANSISTOR/MULTIBAND RELEASE

***NEW ALBUM RELEASE***
Sunday, July 17, 2011.
I am putting out a an album of new music titled "Transistor/Multiband". It is a self release and available for a donation price of your choice which can be made through PayPal. Hard copies will first be made available at the "Touch the Gear" expo taking place from 7-10pm at the San Francisco Community Music Center as part of the Outsound New Music Summit.

THOSE INTERESTED IN RESERVING A COPY CAN DO SO BY GOING TO MY WEBSITE (http://www.noisefromtheunderground.com); UNDER THE "ALBUMS/RELEASES" SECTION AND MAKING A DONATION AMOUNT OF YOUR CHOICE.

The excerpt here is a sample of what it is, but I don't like the way it sounds when transferred to digital so it will stay on tape the way it was recorded. The idea is an expansion on the radio feedback system I have been working with for the last couple of years, but recorded all on 1/4" tape to allow the exploration of the thresholds that exist in recording technology. Plus I really like the way it sounds. Christina Stanley will also have a part playing violin on the album.

Side I Excerpt by Daniel Steffey

Side II Excerpt by Daniel Steffey

Densities for pipe organ

This work for pipe organ and was the first to begin incorporating graphic symbols combined with notated passages. I am currently working on revising this score and will expand on the orchestration much more. This performance is by Eric Glick Rieman at the Mills College Chapel on April 30, 2011. There is also a video performance on YouTube.

Densities (for Pipe Organ) by Daniel Steffey

Cadenza for Solo Cello

This is a cello solo that also explores notated lines combined with graphic interpretations. The graphics mostly involve gestures of sound with pitches left up to the performer. A revised version of this piece will be performed at the San Francisco Community Music Center on August 26 with Devon Thrumston playing (who is also the cellist on this recording)


Cadenza for Solo Cello by Daniel Steffey

Concerto for Contrabass Clarinet and Nine Musicians

This is my newest work to date. I basically spent the bulk of my spring (2011) semester working on this one along with a few other pieces. Besides a short and simple concert band piece I did a couple of years ago, this is definitely the most involved chamber piece I have put together. Over the past six months or so, I have been working on incorporating written music with graphic gestures and the interplay of the two. Basically trying to get a certain sound and leaving pitch direction out of the picture. The reason behind this is that it frees the performer from having to worry about hitting any "right notes", but rather allows him/her to focus on the sound that should be happening. I have written 2 1/2 pieces with that idea in mind, this one, Cadenza for Solo Cello, and a piece Densities for Pipe Organ.

The pipe organ piece was the first to start doing this in a way that I wanted, but it was very loose and not so much at the forefront of the music. Chloros II for Amplified Violin and Percussion also explored this idea, but in a much different way which is not so much relevant to this piece.

Anyways, the program notes are listed with the youtube video/soundcloud file and you can read more about that there. Later, I will post the other two pieces previously mentioned in this blog and talk more about the graphic interpretation stuff and maybe organize in my own brain what it is that this method is really trying to achieve.





Concerto for Contrabass Clarinet and Nine Musicians by Daniel Steffey

String Quartet No. 1

This is the first string quartet I have written, composed in October 2010 and was premiered at the Signal Flow Music Festival at Mills College on March 11, 2011. The work centers around microtonal relationships/glissandi, bow pressure, and the position of bowing on the string in relation to the bridge. This piece is wholeheartedly dedicated to the Strata Quartet, the group who premiered the work and is heard on this recording (live recording of the premiere. Thanks for listening.

String Quartet No. 1 by Daniel Steffey

No [...] I Won't

This is a piece that I wrote in May 2010 for a vocalist friend of mine who wanted some music for her recital. Originally it was conceived for piano and voice, but it didn't go anywhere, so I rethought the whole thing for vibraphone.

The idea was not to so much have a "traditional" song with accompaniment, but rather trading soloistic parts. The recording doesn't really do justice to some parts, ie. the middle section with difference tones. The vibraphone is just a bit to quiet, but that is okay.

No [...] I Won't by Daniel Steffey