instrumentation: 3333/4331/timp/3perc/hp/pno/strings

The opening of Automation unfolds like a vast machine coming to life. The first sounds we hear, from the unpitched percussion, are vividly machinelike. Each instrument plays in a repeating cycle, but the cycles are all of different lengths. As other instruments enter the texture, new processes begin, overlapping with those already in progress. I imagined that from the moment this great machine is switched on, it operates of its own accord, each component coming into operation and eventually triggering other components. The orchestral texture is composed of several layers, each layer a component of the machine, if you will. As new layers emerge and come to the fore, other layers recede into the background or else turn off entirely, their function completed. Subsequent sections of the piece explore other types of processes. The energy level waxes and wanes in a series of valleys and plateaus, but the constant whir of the machine continues throughout, until just before the end. Here the orchestra plays all in unison, beginning quietly and slowly, but quickly growing and accelerating to a cataclysmic peak. The vast machine, overburdened and overheated, makes a final attempt to reboot, but its meltdown is inevitable.

Please visit <a href="http://davidschneidermusic.com">davidschneidermusic.com</a> to order score/parts or to report a performance of this piece.

Performed by Indiana University Concert Orchestra, David Effron, cond. Recorded Nov. 19, 2008 in the Musical Arts Center, IU Bloomington.

Recording © 2014, The Trustees of Indiana University. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Automation, for orchestra (2007-2008), 13'

Created by Steve Barsotti and Eric Leonardson at Experimental Sound Studio 1998. Engineered by Lou Mallozzi. Released on CD "rarebit," 2008. Mimeomeme/Transparency CD0125.

Rarebit

Near And Distant Relations

This was my first try of recording singing vine glasses. Also I recorded the sound of some cookingpot lids. Listen to the combination of the sounds.

Used items: four Riedel Vinum XL glasses and two different cookingpot lids.

Lamentum

Candice Chin, Violin
Matthew James Briggs, Composer, Percussion, Electronics

“Centaurus X-3 (4U 1118-60) is an X-ray pulsar with a period of 4.84 seconds. It was the first X-ray pulsar to be discovered, and the third X-ray source to be discovered in the constellation Centaurus. The system consists of a neutron star orbiting a massive, O-type supergiant star dubbed Krzeminski’s star after its discoverer. Matter is being accreted from the star onto the neutron star, resulting in X-rayemission.” (Wikipedia)

That a star can exist out there, otherwise invisible to us except for a regular burst of X-ray radiation ever 4.84 seconds, is truly spectacular. Krzeminski's Star attempts to characterize the sense of wonder and mystery of being such a small creature in such a large universe.

The piece has three internal movements in the form slow-fast-slow. There is no silence between movements as the electronics make sonic transitions from one to the next.The first movement sets up the mysterious mood. In the electronics a wave of sound pulses every 4.84 seconds. NASA transmissions (from STS-31) are used to complete the space theme. The second movement retains a mysterious character but becomes a bit more playful with rhythmic hemiolas and unison melodic lines. The third movement returns to the character of the first as we again ponder the deep.

Krzeminski's Star

solo electric guitar with an Eventide Pitch Factor and some lush reverbs - enjoy!

Song for Caryl

Recording made at Oak Lake Field Station outside of Brookings, South Dakota at approximately 6:30 AM. M/S setup with Sennheiser MKH 30 + MKH 40.  Due to a broken tripod, the microphone blimp was balanced in the branches of a small tree. 

Prairie Dawn

You're invited to the GSSN Ants Party!

Ants. Formica Obscuripes. The Thatching Ant. Touching all of our different mics that we placed on their home. We used to PCB Accelerometers (the high tingly touches), two JRF C-Series contact microphones, one Sennheiser lav mic, one cetacean audio C-55 hydrophone... 

This track is only 30 seconds, in part because CONTACT MICS CAN STILL PICK UP YOUR DARN VOICE, AND I TALK WAY TOO MUCH. Oh how i like to talk... 

Shoutout to fellow recordist Michelle Hauer!

Ants Party

Steve Creswell, Viola
Sean Osborn, Bass Clarinet
Catherine Case, Harp
Rob Tucker, Percussion
Al Berg, Piano

Matthew James Briggs, Composer, Producer

1. Glacier
2. Northeast Harbor, Snowbound
3. March of the Polar Bears
4. Lonely Icicle
5. Melting Piece

Freezing Pieces is a set of five miniature movements composed in December of 2000 and finished in January 2001 at Indiana University in Bloomington. It was premiered in March 2001 at a composition department recital.

Each of the movements depicts an imagined winter scene. The style is sparse, cold and pointillistic. I was quite taken with the music of Anton Webern at the time, which is apparent in the thin textures and brevity of the pieces.

With Melting Piece, winter breaks. A distant thunderstorm is heard (bass drums) and winter drips away (viola pizzicato). The storm passes and Freezing Pieces fades to silence.

Score © 2001, 2015
Recording © 2015

QM-MJ9-15-00201
QM-MJ9-15-00202
QM-MJ9-15-00203
QM-MJ9-15-00204
QM-MJ9-15-00205

Krzeminski's Star

Matthew James Briggs

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