Sketches 3.
All are experiments involving the 297, specifically.
Besides 'Water', most are self-playing, and/or composed with 3 modules only.
I hope enjoyment is the result upon listening.

See the blog for more words.

Dawn, and Preparation

Performers: Derek Bermel, clarinet and Charles Peck, electronics

Photo credit: Michael Small

Program Notes:
The concept behind this piece places the warm tone and agile character of the clarinet in opposition to the unforgiving and repetitive nature of a click track. Early on in the piece, the clarinet is limited to only a single pitch as it establishes a rhythmic and dynamic agility that sits in stark contrast to the static electronics. As the piece develops, the clarinet introduces its own internal dichotomy as it begins to break away from the single pitch idea and instead slowly reveals the impressive range of the instrument. Meanwhile, the development of the electronics is restricted to primarily timbral effects. It is not until later in the piece that the electronic part unveils a sub-bass tone, derived from a slowed down click, and a continuous high-pitched rhythm, derived from a sped up click, that provides a full, sustained texture. At which point, the clarinet both enhances the gesture, by using its full range, and contrasts it, by inhabiting a spontaneous, less constant rhythmic world. As this energy is dissipated and the piece comes to a close, the instruments briefly retreat into the introductory content, all while maintaining their dichotomy.

Dichotomy for clarinet and electronics

Saikat Karmakar, violin
Sahada Buckley, violin
Chris Williams, viola
Alina Vazquez, cello

Differences arise at local levels in the form of clashing rhythmic and pitch material, often highlighted with contrasting tone colors. On a larger scale, entire sections of music present themselves in contrasting styles, each with their own particular frictions. Stylistic traits from each section make appearances in other sections, often for the worse with resolutions to these disputes being either questionable, outright avoided, or leading towards other conflicts. With "Irreconcilable Differences", I seek to tell the story of a troubled relationship and its ramifications. This work was a long due outpouring of emotion for me, and I hope that it provides an outlet of expression and release for those who have found themselves impacted by such a situation.

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Studio Recording, October 2014

Premiered on October 15, 2014 by Saikat Karmakar, Sahada Buckley, Chris Williams, and Alina Vazquez at the Dancz Center for New Music at the University of Georgia.


Irreconcilable Differences

Performer: Mattie Peck

Program Notes: 
We typically imagine speech as a relatively unmusical experience when compared with instrumental performance, despite the fact that it maintains a great deal of rhythm, dynamics, and pitch content. Similarly, we often perceive instruments, like the oboe, as relatively uncommunicative when compared with speech, due to the absence of language. To broach this apparent disconnect, I began with a text by Wyatt Schroeder, which explores the interactions of a son and father just after the death of the mother. This compelling prose creates some meaningful opportunities to explore and blur the lines between the voice and the oboe. 

Text by Wyatt Schroeder:
I caught him tapping his finger against the desk with a neurotic pulse, like a clockmaker testing the time. It was hard to ignore him as I fussed with dinner, because he kept saying things like “Thomas was wrong. You don’t rage against it. You simply fade.” All the while, pounding the chair with his fist and foot.

On most days, his brow’s well-worn expression betrayed his emotions, but the two seemed to read off the same hymnal that Sunday. He kept going on - I wasn’t even sure if he was addressing me - saying, “There are no wise men or good men just wild men and grave men.” Just shaking his head side-to-side like a pendulum. 

I knew it was hard for him to stare at a blank page like that. His words had counseled others once; his prose had shot passion into veins and earned a penny to his pocket. But all of that was years away now, years in the rearview mirror. Fame under-stays its welcome, I guess. 

I slid the plate in front of him and told him to eat before his supper got cold. He just told me it would warm up again in time. 

****

After I cleared his half-digested plate, I reminded him that lovers may come and go, but love remains with our best ambitions. He snorted and waved his hand at me, dismissing me to go clean the dishes. As I turned away, he told me that love didn’t exist outside of those we loved. 

He was just so sullen, so I acted out the worst parts of the modern novel. I took on the voices of characters until he was laughing, chuckling, smiling. It was good to see his brow relinquish its chokehold over his expression. As the moment settled, he looked down at his feet and said to himself, almost in a whisper, “and death has no dominion.” 

As I smoothed out the wrinkles in the tablecloth, a knock came to the door, a black-suited body silhouetted through the blinds. 

****

After the service, we walked the grounds – the two of us – in silence. Him, with his country senses, just watching his feet trod on the ground, and me just watching him. Though he would admonish my saying so, his heart was too sensual to watch the lowering. Three. Four. Five feet. Six feet. It’s too far for an earnest man to bear. But his expression remained unchanged. He glared at the grass as he had eyed the onions. 

He sighed and met my stare for the first time that day. He gritted through his teeth and said that the pastor did no justice to Dylan Thomas.  

****

Fade, fade into the dying of the light
And death has no dominion

Fade for oboe and tape

For Solo Tenor/Shruti Box, Clarinet, Cello, and Piano

Hidden Strings

Computation is the engine that powers the information age. This piece attempts to offer a glimpse inside some real-world algorithms, a sort of window into the “thoughts” of a computer. It reflects my fascination with music’s astounding ability to express abstract thought. Some of the algorithms you’ll hear are critical building blocks of a staggeringly huge amount of modern software and are being executed by an equally staggering number of computers right now… and indeed every second of every day.

The primary through-line in this piece is sorting. There are four main sections. Each takes a repeating fragment and uses the specified algorithm to sort it. Every pattern gets sorted by pitch, from low to high (or from high to low). Some also get sorted by rhythm, from shorter to longer (or longer to shorter) values. If you listen closely, you may be able to hear notes switching places in the pattern—this is the algorithm at work! All these algorithms are interchangeable, of course, in that given the same input, each would arrive at the same result. The fun, I think, is in listening to the diverse ways they get there.

Please visit davidschneidermusic.com to order score/parts or to report a performance of this piece.

Performed by Philharmonia Northwest, Julia Tai, conductor, at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Seattle, WA, April 24, 2016

computation[0]: algorithmic thoughts of the electric brain, for amplified orchestra (2015-2016)

The first installment of a series of works for solo trumpet and live electronics based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's collection of short stories, "Strange Pilgrims."

Live Recording from SPLICE 2016.

Light is Like Water

Aphantasia for Flute and Electronics written in 2016 by Brian Riordan.
Anne Daley - Flute and Electronics 

Performed live on Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI on 07-02-2016. 
This piece was composed for the 2016 SPLICE Institute in collaboration with Anne Daley. 

Aphantasia

I was once asked to circuit-bend a Speak & Spell toy, and the person asking for this referred to the toy and its sibling instruments (the Speak & Read and Speak & Math) as "Speaks." I found that amusing, since "speaks" would normally be a third-person singular verb, rather than a plural noun . . . but I digress. "speaks" is a brief fixed media electroacoustic work made from samples of circuit-bent "Speak" toys from Texas Instruments, and voices contributed by friends.

speaks (fixed media, 2016)

(2002) For flute and soprano (one performer).  Composed for Rebecca Simpson-Litke. Premiered in Vancouver in 2003.  Winner - SOCAN Young Composer's competition, first place, Pierre Mercure division.

Irreconcilable Differences

Cody Brookshire

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