Music! Architecture!

What if we made music out of modules, phrases, in an open-ended fashion, rather than in a 'through-composed', 'written' sense? I made six such modules for xylophone, vibraphone and piano, based on the first few drum-rudiments; the idea being that one unit lasts for one bar, the next lasts for two, the third takes three bars to 'resolve', and so on up until a six-bar pattern. Each unit is multi-purpose, perhaps shifting in role from providing accompaniment to supporting the composition structurally.

Each player had a card with their part, and these instructions:

• When playing: fade in, and fade out sections.

• Inside of these fades, repeat your section for at least a minute.

• While playing, allow timbres to shift in slow curves by moving your sticks around on the playing surface of your instrument, and vary dynamics slowly. The piano may use pedals for this effect.

• After fading out there can be a brief pause before beginning a new section.

• If returning to a section for the second time in a performance you may play

up or down the octave.

(Fig. 1: Early versions of 'score-cards')

Our lives are shaped by architecture; and because the architecture of buildings reflect the aspirations of a society, I was curious to apply such 'constructivist' aspirations to music. I say 'constructivist' because I always feel that if a building is made with people in mind, it succeeds; it succeeds if people maintain a use for it, so if I was to make anything then it would have to be with this in mind. The way I see it, we are currently using modular, flexible methods of construction to create multi-purpose buildings- hence the above.

There's also a link to a (better sounding) ten-minute version recorded at OCM Open, The North Wall, 27/03/2010 here, with a relevant review here