Steve Hall

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Publication Date

3-2-1917

Year of Release

1917

Note(s)

March 2, 2017, 7:30PM

Mason Bartlett, Matthew Bradley, Chris Scarberry, Austin Redd, marimba,

James W. Stamm, electric guitar,

Lars Swanson, electric bass,

Hogan Bentle, drum set

Marshall University Percussion Ensemble:

Steve Hall, Director

Keith Bailey, Mason Bartlett, Matthew Bradley, Anna Firth, Montana Gatens, Will Runyon, Chris Scarberry, Austin Redd, Bobby Galloway, Saxophone

Lars Swanson, electric bass

Andrea Withee, trumpet

Hogan Bentle, drum set;

Jason Dandelet, electric guitar

6 short studies: At times I simply have to reach into my "toolbox" and construct a composition. But, there are other times when I get to try something new; or at least "new" to me. These short studies are such pieces. In each case, these one-minute "experiments" led me to more substantial pieces, and more important, they added additional tools to my toolbox.

No Way Out is an upbeat composition that embraces minimalistic compositional techniques and popular sounds of jazz and rock. The title of the piece is clearly represented in the piece's nature to constantly move forward at a fast pace, with no definite signs of ending. The pulse is set initially by marimbas playing a repetitive, and driving eighth note passage. This eventually breaks into a series of pentatonic based motives in each marimba and the electric string instruments, displayed in a contrapuntal fashion. Meanwhile, the drum set builds up tension with complementary rhythms. The tension is eventually released through a rock based groove played by the drums and complemented by the supporting bass line, guitar comp figures, and continued contrapuntal sounds displayed by the marimbas. This returns again in the original key's parallel major of Eb, after another build-up of tension which involves rapid key changes and a false ending (seemingly indicating a "way out" of the piece). The piece ends with a final reference to one of the composition's main motives in Eb major.

Heuschreckenpest is a work exploring the generation of sounds and pitch material using Audacity and Pure Data. In the work, musical textures are created by feeding random pitches into a sampler housing electronically generated sounds; these were recorded and shaped further using signal processing. Heuschreckenpest translates loosely into "Plague of Locusts;' which is a fitting metaphor for the sound of this piece.

Wild Fruits 4: Winter is an electroacoustic soundscape work from the Wild Fruits cycle, begun in 2003. The piece includes spoken text taken from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, recorded by Anne-Marie Donovan. The cycle takes its title from the posthumously-published journal by Henry David Thoreau. The sounds are all based on field recordings from various locations, processed in the studio. Originally conceived as an 8-channel surround-sound work, Winter is highly spatialized, with all sounds traveling independently around the listening space.

Released on the 1973 LP Over-Nite Sensation, Frank Zappa's song Zomby Woof is the story of a man who went to sleep and woke up transformed into a zomby woof, a play on words making him some kind of a zombie/werewolf /dog creature. The transformation was illustrated in the original studio version by the shift in lead vocals from Zappa's calm basso voice to Ricky Lancelotti's "mad lion" roars and Tasmanian Devil-esque energy. The interest of this song does not reside in its rather cheesy horror movie plot (although there are some twisted word plays here as Zappa was trying to find rhymes for "woof'), but in its musical structure. The basis frame of a straightforward rock song in 4/4 is periodically stretched to accommodate a 5/8 riff and, what is the tune's most identifiable feature, a four-bar break played in 5/4 (five against four) . These elements hint at the complexity of the material Zappa would soon write for the albums Roxy & Elsewhere and One Size Fits All. "Zomby Woof' was performed live upon its release in 1973 and also during the 1982 and 1988 tours. A live rendition from 1982, noticeably faster than the LP version, can be found on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1. It also sports some good guitar work by Zappa and Steve Vai.

(http: //www.allmusic.com/song/zomby-woof-mt0009397397, accessed February 4, 2017)

Note

Smith Music Recital Hall

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Fine Arts | Music | Music Performance

Marshall University Music Department Presents the Eighth Annual Festival of New Music

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