Time and Texture

Time and Texture is a collaborative prodction that is a result of a musical exploration between the three members of Trioture and their individual musical journeys. The work draws on each members diverse musical backgrounds including the inclusion of music from Malawi, Jazz and Electro-Acoustic Music.

Time is one of the few necessities of music. It exists in all music in different manifestations. Time in music can sometimes take the shape with pulse, or be presented in a way to give a sense of suspension of time. Either way, music must exist in time for sound to propagate. Trioture’s exploration of time delves into different approaches of perception of time including moments of pulse, suspension of time and juxtaposition between these rhythmic concepts.

Texture in music refers to layers and their interactions. As a trio of eclectic musicians,Trioture instrumentation of trombone, percussion with electronics and strombophone allows for a diverse set of possibilities to create textures that can verge on the tactile. The changing shapes of sounds and their process of time creates a sense of drama of Time and Texture to create serenity, tension and excitement.

Time&Texture

Beta 1.01 is a work written and recorded November – December 2010. The work was originally designed to be a mono-drama and eventually developed into a mostly instrumental concept album with voice but no words. Psychedelic music as well as political and social history of hypocrisy in the 20th Century were the driving themes behind the musical writing. Beta

The work is divided up into rhythmic patterns, songs, transitional material as well as an introduction and coda. Originally recorded with 2 guitars, electric bass, voice and Strombophone, the work could be reinterpreted for a different instrumentation. There are strong popular music influences and I see this work as a development from the music done in Tropendrift. The electronic and compositional concepts have developed from that work.

For more recordings please contact me at: dirkstromberg_at_gmail_dot_com

The work uses the notational style that was developed through the Isthmus series. The original working sketch is presented on this page.

Finale

I first read Tropendrift / Tropical Drift in December 2004. I was immediately attracted to it because of its sexuality, longing and beauty. Inspired by Tropendrift, I dropped my plans to move to Europe and set off on a three-month trip to Asia to try and gain a better understanding of the aesthetics underlying the book.

My perception of the poetry changed greatly during this trip. The work began to assume the rhythms that friends sang to me, the time of the locations and the new world of sounds that had enveloped me – those of tuk-tuks, wet markets and a language that sang in a melodious monotone.

Financially exhausted by my trip, I headed off to play on a cruise ship in Mexico in order to finance my work on Tropendrift.

After a few months on the ship, I returned to NYC to finish translating the sketches into a composition and to record.

During the recording process, I was amazed at the depth of the book. So many layers of meaning and sub-currents surfaced that I had not seen or clearly realized before as I completed the sessions – over a year after first having delved deeply into the book. After a couple of months, the work was on hard disk and I took it with me to be mastered in the Philippines, the country of origin of my wife Sheryl.

When finishing the recording during monsoon rain at the Taal volcano, I realized the work had finally come home.

Tropendrift includes only 18 of the 48 spectacular poems of the book. The poems have been selected on the basis of my own personal experiences and the desire to retain the flow and form of the book.

The work consists of two parts, each with three movements, which in turn comprise three subsections. Any movement of the work can either stand independently or play its role in the larger context of the composition, as the listener desires.

The author of the poetry prefers to have the subsections of the movements that deal with the same theme segued together – such as the Goddess of Love and Dance of the Monkeys.

The work is meant for a performance with all parts performed life with the addition of some looping, automated diffusion and artificial intelligence.

Dirk Johan Stromberg, 2005

Chiang Mai: The Fortune Teller

Dance Of The Monkeys II

Isthmus of Sound is a series of works composed in 2007. They are the culmination of two years of research and experimentation in composition and notation. The work is significant because it represents the first works in what has become the contemporary style that I work in. It offers the level of interaction, improvisation and experimentation that I had been seeking.

The original series consists of four works; Eugene (for Pink Floyd), Both Sides of Multiplicity (for Robert Reigle), Reality and Other (for Do Kien Cuong), and A Fissure (for traditional Vietnamese Instruments). The works approach different compositional and improvisational challenges both as a composer and a performer. Each work is written for specific occasions and instrumentations, yet are considered open works with open instrumentation.

Several other works have been composed in this style for various ensembles. The style is versatile and allows for the performers voice while demanding experimentation and exploration from the performer. You can hear two different versions of Both Sides of Multiplicity here. One can see certain similarities as well as well as exploration and the performers voice.

The compositional and notational style is further elaborated in the notation part of this website.

Isthmus of Sound: Both Sides of Multiplicity

This is a composition by Vietnamese composer, Do Tuan. The work features a chamber orchestra (the Duong Dai Festival Orchestra) and Dirk Johan Stromberg playing Strombophone. A little something different. It was fun to play a work written for Strombophone.

Composer: Do Tuan, Piece: Misery (Chamber Orch. w/Strombophone)

2008 Performance of my 2003 String Quartet, Failing Thoughts of Memories. Performed by the Vietnamese National String Quartet, as part of the Annual Ho Chi Minh City Contemporary Music Festival. 

Failing Thoughts of Memories

Dirk Johan Stromberg is an American improviser, composer and music technologist. His body of work explores dynamic interaction between performer, technology and performance practice, often questioning how performers interact and perceive technology in improvisation. Designing electronic instrument hardware and software is an integral part of the process and has led to the development of several instruments.

Dirk’s music has been performed in Europe, Asia and the United States including; Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Manila, Bucharest, Istanbul, Amsterdam and New York City. He has released three albums with the Turkish improvisation group Islak Kopek as a performer and engineer and his music appears on a number of compilations. In de Knipscheer released a two CD set of his composition, Tropendrift, in 2006, a collaboration with Dutch poet Albert Hagenaars.

He has been composer in residenc at STEIM (Studio for Electronic Instrumental Music) and Brooklyn Center for Computer Music and has received recognition for his work from ISAM (Institute for Study in American Music) and MATA (Music at the Anthology). His 2008 album, Islak Kopek, was in the top 20 albums in Turkey for 2009.

Dirk Stromberg. He was a founder of the ContemeControlmporary Music Festival of Ho Chi Minh City and was formally on faculty at Istanbul Bilgi University and Saigon Technology University. Dirk is currently on faculty at School of the Arts (SOTA), Singapore. He holds a Masters of Music from Brooklyn College and a Bachelor of Music from Texas Tech University

Dirk Johan Stromberg – BM, MM
Composer, Performer, Music Technologist
Educator and Consultant
Subject Head, Music – School of the Arts (SOTA) – Singapore
Co-Director – Duong Dai Festival – HCMC, Vietnam
Part-Time Faculty – Nanyang Technology University – Singapore