Excerpt of a work-in-progress for electronics and piano.

Here Nor There Excerpt 1

rapid change, anxiety, and exhaustion. 

ScoreFollower video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMoZCoctIGU

cello - Seth Parker Woods
Recorded at Northwestern University in November of  2021.

STRIX (2021, for cello and electronics)

"the end of an orange" (for violin and live-electronics) derives its title from an original text by Abi Basch and was written for and is dedicated to Todd Reynolds. The electronic processing explores many varied spatial and temporal realms of pitch and rhythm as the customized software samples pre-composed melodic fragments upon which the violinist improvises along with elements of spoken text. Drawing from the idea of deciding to remember, the violinist controls aspects of the performance to be recorded, while the fragments of remembered sonic material follow their own evolution.

The piece was written as part of Van Lier Fellowship at Roulette Intermedium, and premiered under the title "if I am I or what actually occurred" on June 15, 2009. The piece has subsequently been released on the album Outerborough on Innova Records. 

end of an orange (excerpt)

Music by Linda Kachelmeier, Text by Emily Dickinson
Performed by Lumina Women's Ensemble, December 2014

We Grow Accustomed To The Dark

Pinning A Shred

Comma was written to commemorate the 60th birthday of James Dillon at the request of Noriko Kawai.  
	The title of the work is a double entendre, referring both to a grammatical punctuation mark, but also to a very small interval in tuning theory.  
While the piano is tuned normally, the electronic track cycles through a chain of the virtually pure fifths of 665-tone equal temperament.  Played on its own, the electronic track progresses entirely by perfect consonances; and yet because of the gradual accumulation of small tuning discrepancies, it reaches unfamiliar microtonal intervals against the pianist’s recurrent A.  After cycling through 665 fifths, the tuning of the electronics eventually realigns itself with that of the piano, terminating the process.  


Comma By Joshua Musikantow

On his debut Ravello Records release ROSE, composer Michael Laurello offers a personal and refined style marked by rhythmic invention, visceral directness, and earnest emotional depth. His music reflects his diverse stylistic influences, which include Western classical music, jazz-fusion, progressive rock/metal, and EDM/IDM. Intricate polyrhythms, high-energy grooves, and a sophisticated harmonic palette are distinctive features of his music.

Laurello composes for both traditional and non-traditional musical forces, including symphony orchestra, acoustic chamber ensembles, and works conceived specifically for the recording studio. He has recently collaborated with groups such as So Percussion, the Yale Philharmonia, Sandbox Percussion, and HOCKET.

Rose and Tell hope everything you hear, two pieces from this release, exemplify Laurello’s fascination with seamlessly interwoven soundworlds of acoustic and electronic sounds. Rose (for Clavinet, synthesizer, and electronics) is a nostalgic homage to ’80s pop viewed through a contemporary lens, featuring a complex rhythmic structure and relentless forward motion. Tell hope everything you hear (for prepared steel-string acoustic guitar and electronics) is in some ways a blood relative of Rose, addressing similar compositional concerns, but with a focus on the electronic transformation of the guitar from being unprocessed to becoming distorted.

Big Things, an amplified quintet for electric guitar, electric bass, piano, vibraphone, and modified drum kit, is a high-powered exploration of groove and polyrhythm. Kaleidoscopic in nature, it showcases Laurello’s ability to create gorgeous, elaborate textures from relatively modest musical materials.

Embers is the most introspective piece on the release, and is the only work of fixed media. A musical collage at heart, it is composed of sounds that Laurello recorded and manipulated (including prepared Fender Rhodes electric piano, prepared acoustic piano, analog synthesizer, found object percussion, and toy piano, among others). Conceived as a tribute to composer Conlon Nancarrow, each instrumental layer is playing in a different tempo, creating a beguiling musical universe that can be at the same time hypnotic and disorienting.

http://ravellorecords.com/catalog/rr7944

Michael Laurello - Rose  "Big Things"

premiered in Austin, Texas, Jan. 2017
Winner of the Golden Hornet String Quartet Smackdown III 
performed by the Mother Falcon String Quartet

THANK YOU GOLDEN HORNET, ATX, MOTHER FALCON, AND ALL THE AUDIENCE THAT VOTED FOR MY PIECE!

"all I'm feeling right now" for string quartet (2017)

Commissioned and Premiered by Spectrum Ensemble as a part of their debut concert "A New Light," benifitng the Coalition for Aging LGBT - Texas.

The inspiration for speak over is one that has been on my heart for a while. As the elected powers target marginalized communities in new ways, many of us within those groups have let out a rallying cry for our rights and our own survival. However, even with the best of intentions, some within marginalized communities (those who, by race/circumstances, have greater privilege, visibility, mainstream acceptance, wealth, etc.) can speak over the voices of those who need to be amplified the most. We have all been guilty of this one way or another.

Beginning with both moving together, gradually one begins to alter the timbre, the tone of the message. The voices continue to speak in tandem, and yet, the struggle is beginning. Soon one takes the helm, literally drowning out any other presence. However, persistence prevails as the one who commandeered eventually acquiesces and repents. We
are left with a single message being carried forward, more and more clearly. I hope this piece offers a space of reflection and helps start conversations about our own roles in speaking over or amplifying the voices of others.

Speak Over for percussion duo (2019)

A very personal work filled with my own musical symbolism that spanned over the course of a few months from my summer in Paris, France through my third semester at UT.

Here Nor There Excerpt 1

JoshuaClausen