This is an excerpt from my piece, "Sometimes My Arms Bend Back", for 10 or more vocalists. The idea is for the performers to have an enjoyable exercise in listening and watching each other, while the audience sit in the middle of a moving, softly varying cloud of human sounds.

There are no instruments, there is no pitch, there are no words - except for the final 40 seconds. This piece is all about space, and various voiced/unvoiced plosive sounds made with the mouth. The audience sit in a normal block of ranked seats, and the performers stand in a large ring around the outside of them. The score gives both musical instructions on what to do when/how (as normal), but also instructions on where to stand when, and how to move around. See the photo for an example from the score.

The piece is being performed again at KLANG festival in Durham, U.K. on June 21st 2014, after which this excerpt will be replaced with a much better recording of the whole piece.

Sometimes My Arms Bend Back (excerpt)

This piece for Flute, Bass Clarinet & Piano is based on a darkly amusing quote about music from Chuck Palahniuk's novel, "Rant: an Oral Biography of Buster Casey" ("Music is crucial. Beyond no...(cont.)" www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2902758-rant)

The piece uses various extended techniques (e.g. extra wind staves to show the ratio of tone to air; superball for rubbing piano strings), combined with drone sounds and small snippets from two well-known pieces of music.

This recording is of the piece's premiere by Ensemble 7Bridges, on 21st June at the KLANG music festival in Durham, U.K.

(image from visualphotos.com)

Automotive Req(uiem)

Busting out some ideas in a single, thick texture.

'Shore' - Electric Cello Improv 2

Water glasses. Rubbing the rims makes them sing. Family meal, Christmas 2014, 'singing' our water glasses around the table after dinner. Remembering a lost loved one; I think we all felt her absence.

Glass (2014)

Just used an electric cello and a Boss GT10 effects board. No loops, no delay, no feedback, no post-production... just live effects (reverb, distortion), foot pedal, and lots of bow control.

Originally written for the London Sinfonietta and performed by Tim Gill at Southbank Centre on 28th March 2015; this version was recorded with me playing the electric cello.

'Black Lake and EXIT' - (electric cello)

Created by me (Mark G Carroll)improvising on the electric cello, over a fabulous noise track created by Chad Langford.
Chad used supercollider to create his noise track.
I used an electric cello and a Boss GT-10 effects board*. Oh, and a bow with 1/4 black hair and 3/4 white. Give lots of 'bite'.

*First patch: preamp (very high gain) + distortion
Second patch: EQ + distortion, with the expression pedal controlling the level of distortion

'Domestic Axe Indents' - Chad Langford/Mark G Carroll

Mostly harmonics. Hooves too, and horns.

Improvised on electric cello with a Boss GT-10 FX board. Patch as for 'Trembles Before The Great Lake'.

Hooves & Harmonics - improvised electric cello

Dirty, blues-y, lazily grinding improv.

Electric cello and Boss GT-10 fx board.

Apologies for the occasional 'click' (only very occasional). At times I was dragging a hell of a lot of sound out of the electric cello, and once or twice it just took it over the input volume line.

Sunday Grind - improvised electric cello

Electric cello, distortion, reverb. No looping.

Part I of my set at Sonic Imperfections in October 2015.

Live At Sonic Imperfections - Part I

Electric cello, distortion, reverb. No looping.

Part II of my set at Sonic Imperfections in October 2015.

Live At Sonic Imperfections - Part II

Electric cello, distortion, reverb. No looping.

Part III of my set at Sonic Imperfections in October 2015.

Live At Sonic Imperfections - Part III

Black Wood (Hill)

Composer, cellist (electric and acoustic), pianist.

Profile photo courtesy of The Newcastle Journal.

Banner photo courtesy of www.tru-studios.co.uk/

Mark Carroll

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