Post-Human was commissioned by Red Note for The End of the World show, a one-off site-specific theatre & music performance to coincide with the supposed end of the world, predicted by many to be 21 December 2012. 

The piece takes as it’s starting point a question posed to environmental writer Alan Weisman in an interview about his book The World without Us – a book that ponders what would become of the world were humans very suddenly to disappear. 


The piece starts as a radio tunes through stations to finally settle upon the Weisman interview. At one point in the interview, the interviewer asks Weisman “What man-made stuff is going to last the longest?” This question and Weisman’s answer forms the starting point for Post-Human. 


Post-Human (live recording from the End of the World show, 21.12.12)

I recently created a kontakt instrument out of a sample of an opera singing donkey, Many people have taken this as a joke, so I decided to use the instrument in a serious and epic setting.

The lead vocal here IS a donkey,

See how it was made here: https://youtu.be/RxGN32EDwBY

Epic Melody For Singing Donkey

To clench is to close or grasp tightly, to contract the muscles in a gripping fashion. Clenching is not a particularly healthy or productive action, nor one in that is especially efficient in terms of expenditure of energy yielding useful results. To clench is to increase tension internally, usually with little or no consequence externally.

The nature of clenching is that it is unrequited. The activity inevitably ends in resignation – never resolution.

Much energy was expended in the composition of Clencher, and the musicians will almost certainly expend much energy in its performance. Were all this energy re-directed into a single clenching act, it would amount to an extremely uncomfortable state of existence, and as such is not recommended.

The piece itself could perhaps be seen to be in three main sections, or “clenches”. Each clench increases to a point of highest tension (“clenchiness”?) and then falls back; with each subsequent clench rising higher in tension than the clench that preceded it.

For those who feel that it is in fact the composer’s duty to provide a lucid programme note explaining the whys and wherefores of a composition, and who also feel that the present programme note falls short of this, I offer by way of an apology an interesting if completely unrelated quote I found whilst carrying out an internet search on the word “clencher” :-

“I started walking with the Clencher and my posture improved and so did my health. Remember - the Clencher is better than a splint in many ways." - Gerald Magnuson, D.D.S. - Inventor of the Clencher 

CLENCHER (2002)

2010

Amplified string quartet. Recording of live performance from 2010. Performed by Viridian Quartet.

Evangelist is written for string quartet with amplification.  From one point of view it is a quintet; with the fifth musician behind the mixing desk, adjusting levels throughout.  

It seems to me a misconception to assume that an amplified ensemble sounds the same but louder.  One makes a constant trade-off between the amplified and the acoustic: detail versus depth, volume versus intimacy.  It is perhaps akin to shining a strong but coloured light on an object - it illuminates and clarifies but also imbues, filters, tints and even misleads. 
In Evangelist, my aim was to establish a fluid, dynamic relationship between the quartet and the amplified sound; a relationship which not only develops over the course of the piece, but one which at certain points the music actually depends on.

To put it another way: in an acoustic (non-amplified) performance situation, there tends to be a fairly clear and perceptible correlation between what a player does and the sound that results.  We see the violinist move the bow slowly across the strings and we hear a quiet held note – there’s a clear cause and effect.  When the sound is amplified, the equation is a bit less straightforward: we see the violinist move the bow slowly across the string, but we may hear a note which, while in essence still quiet, seems to dominate the ensemble.  Not only this, the main source of the sound has relocated to a pair of speakers at the front of the stage.  In effect the amplification interrupts the direct link between the player’s intention and the resultant sound and begins to act as a mediator between them.
It is this dialogue between player intention and actual sound, between performed dynamics and actual volume, and between quartet, amplification & audience that interested me in Evangelist.  The piece opens with the viola playing fairly softly, but mixed in such a way that the sound sits atop the rest of the quartet playing much more aggressively.  At other points in the piece, an instrument is mixed much lower than the rest, as if the player has stepped out of the quartet.  And finally, still at other points, in much the same way that a player might have several bars rest, the amplification “rests”, i.e. is left static with no changes in the mix, allowing the focus to remain on the quartet’s ability to balance itself unaided.    

There were three reasons for the title Evangelist.  Firstly, the idea of the religious evangelist and the way he uses his voice to convey the ‘message’ is something that fascinates me, despite my having no religious convictions.  

Secondly, there seems to me to be an almost religious significance attributed to the string quartet within a composer’s output, often viewed as a creative pinnacle in his/her career.  Finally, as clichéd as it sounds, the title came to me in a dream.

Evangelist

The "famous" scissors piece.  This was written for Invention Ensemble and performed by the group a number of times. This performance was in the Bongo Club in Edinburgh, circa August 2000.

You can find the score here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/73328516/Colin-Broom-Music-for-Desks-Pt-I-Scissors

Music for Desks, Pt. I: Scissors, 1998 (for 5 pairs of scissors. Live, August 2000)

Iona Fortune - “Tao Of I” (Optimo Music)

01. Qián 乾 
02. Kūn 坤 
03. Zhūn 屯 
04. Méng 蒙 

05. Xū 需 
06. Sòng 訟 
07. Shī 師 
08. Bǐ 比 

 Optimo Music release Iona Fortune’s “Tao of I” album in late May. 

Iona Fortune is a composer and producer from Glasgow and presents the “Tao of I” album as her debut release.

Inspired by Eastern Philosophy and slated to be the first in an 8 album series exploring all the symbols of the I Ching, her music is influenced by oriental sounds and features a palette of instruments that includes the Guzheng, Gamelan and EMS Synthi AKS.

The overall effect is a singular and beguiling sound that very loosely fits in with the Fourth World concept imagined by Jon Hassell, and indeed Iona Fortune has also contributed a track to Optimo Music’s recent Fourth World compilation “Miracle Steps”. 

The initial vinyl edition will come on a white pressing with inside sleeve and original artwork by Iona Fortune.

Released on vinyl (and digital) on May 26th 2017. Distributed by Kompakt.

OM 10 LP - Iona Fortune - Tao Of I (album sampler)

Another live recording, this time for 8 Violins, 4 Viola, 8 Cello, Piano and Clarinet.

Savage Markings

Wrong Island & DJ Caring (9/5/20)

Intense, distorted bass, heavy drums and lead violin.

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The Engine Room

Dave's printer provides the intro percussion for this track! 
Always loved this one! 

CNUT - The Rise of CNUT

MisterSmith

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