I made you a mixtape

Quartetto di Cremona with Nolan Pearson, piano
Recorded live at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre
May 03, 2013 at the Intimacy of Creativity Festival.


The Devil's Nine Questions: Mvt 3 - Vulnerable

The Devil's Nine Questions: Mvt 2 - Jagged

The Devil's Nine Questions: Mvt 1 - Viscous

Commissioned by the Aeolus String Quartet
Composed by Steven Snowden

From the Aeolus Quartet's 2012 album *Many-Sided Music*
Digital release date: March 06, 2012


Program Notes:
Appalachian Polaroids was initially inspired by the controversial portrait photography of Shelby Lee Adams (b. 1950). Though sometimes criticized for perpetuating the hillbilly stereotype of rural Appalachia, I feel that his photographs often illuminate the quiet resilience of these remote mountain communities. As a native of the Ozark Mountain countryside, I have always felt a strong connection with my neighbors to the East. In Appalachian Polaroids, I chose to create my own musical portrait of the unique mix of hardship and joy that comes with living an isolated rural life. 

This piece begins with a 1976 field recording of Sheila Kay Adams (no relation to Shelby Lee) singing the popular folk song Black is the Color in Asheville, North Carolina. The quartet quietly enters as an integrated component of the recording, playing with the wood of their bows to create a slightly noisy effect, similar to the tape hiss present in the old equipment used to record Sheila's stunning voice. Their sound gradually becomes more brilliant until the group finally emerges with crowing figures reminiscent of Appalachian fiddle playing. However, they also carry with them remnants of Sheila's own unique singing style. These attributes, (which include sliding/scooping to and from certain pitches and a subtle yodeling effect at the ends of phrases) expand as the piece progresses and eventually exert their influence on large-scale aspects of melody, rhythm and even form.


Appalachian Polaroids

In this recording:  The University of Colorado Wind Symphony

This piece was originally inspired by the painting Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1490) by Hieronymus Bosch, which gives a twisted, and often gruesome, account of the biblical rise and fall of humankind. However, rather than writing a piece that programmatically represents this work of art in its entirety, I chose to focus on Bosch’s poignant depiction of confronting oneÂ’s own lost innocence. Through the gradual process of leaving the shelter of unabashed ignorance, man becomes aware of both good and evil.

The Garden of Innocence - Wind Ensemble (excerpts)

Recorded by Steve Parker

Ground Round was inspired by the unique sound of cattle auctioneers in the United States. Their chant presents specific rhythms, pitches, and cadences that serve to intensify the auction process and encourage rapid bidding. The end result is a uniquely musical and mesmerizing form of communication. After listening and watching several auctions, Steven decided that this could be successfully explored by utilizing the unique voice-like characteristics of the trombone in conjunction with the live audio processing.aThis piece employs live audio processing techniques via the Max/MSP programming language.

Ground Round - for Trombone and Interactive Electronics

For solo percussion (tea kettle and 6 metal mixing bowels) and electronics.

A Watched Pot - for teakettle, mixing bowls and electronics (excerpt)

From line upon line Percussion's self-titled album - 2011
http://lineuponlinepercussion.org/
http://stevensnowden.com

A Man With a Gun Lives Here - mvt 2 - There Are Thieves About

Recorded by Friction Quartet in 2015.

Inspired by two prison work songs recorded at Angola State Prison in the 1940’s by John and Alan Lomax titled Rosie and Take This Hammer.

Take This Hammer - Friction Quartet

Left of the Dial - Solo Percussion and Electronics (demo)

Program Notes:
One of the things that I find really interesting about flute/percussion duo is that their traditional roles of musical expression within larger ensembles seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. While the flute is typically associated with delicate lyricism, percussion is often charged with conveying rhythmic aggression. When Eric and Kristin first approached me about writing a piece for them, I immediately knew that I wanted to subvert those expectations. However, rather than trying to simply reverse those associations, I wanted to explore ways of combining extra-musical inspirations that composers have traditionally assigned to these instruments. Historically, the flute has been closely associated with birdcalls and percussion has been a symbol of conflict. I thought a union of these two disparate concepts could prove to be particularly interesting.
 
On the surface, these two subjects seem to have very little to do with each other, but after surfing Wikipedia for a while, I came across a uniquely aggressive behavior exhibited by a seemingly innocuous bird, the finch. When an outside threat to their young is perceived, the adults will sound an alert to other finches in the area. This mobbing call triggers an organized response in which the predator is repeatedly attacked until it eventually retreats. After a bit more research, I found a few others animals that exhibited a similar response to predatory threats and was inspired to make this a multi-movement work based upon the behavior of three very different animals. The mobbing behavior of finches is meant to deter and distract the threat, in which the adults take turns dive-bombing and flying into the face of the predator. Bluegills will band closely together in order to make themselves appear to be a larger animal and gradually nudge the threat out of their territorial waters. Meerkats employ an organized two-pronged approach against cobras, with individuals taking turns to taunt the snake and dodge its strikes, while the rest of the group attacks it from behind.
 
Kristin Hayes: flute
Eric Peterson: vibraphone, metal bowls, opera gong, wood block, ribbon crasher


Visitor Pass

Mobbing Calls - III. Meerkats

Alarm Will Sound Performs
*For So Long It's Not True*
by Steven Snowden
Recorded live on 07-16-2011 at the Missouri Theatre 

Program Notes:
	My earliest memories of music come from the countless hours I spent on the construction site with my father.Just before beginning our day of hanging ducting or wiring thermostats, he would often plug in his ragged old boom box and set the dial to the local classic rock station.Amidst a backdrop of skill saws, nail guns and power drills, the air was saturated with the songs of bands that I eventually grew to love like Led Zeppelin, Lynard Skynard and Pink Floyd.

I eventually came to know every subtle nuance of the recordings that came blaring through that radio.However, because of frequent interruptions from construction noise and spotty reception, I could often only remember short segments of them for the first couple of years.Because this was my only consistent exposure to music at the time, I would often get these fragments stuck in my head with no idea of what came before or after them.Continuously looping through my mind, these bits and pieces would begin to lose all context and eventually mutate into something that hardly resembled what I had originally heard.(similar to the effect of saying a word over and over until it no longer makes sense)

Recalling those musically formative years, I wrote this piece based on one of my favorite songs, Dazed and Confused, recorded by Led Zeppelin in 1968.I took the title for this piece from its first line, “Been dazed and confused for so long it’s not true” and nearly every musical aspect of this work is derived from that song in some way.Along with melodic and rhythmic components from the original recording, I’ve incorporated reconstructions of more abstract musical elements like vocal style, guitar tone and drum fill patterns.Just as my mottled memory had warped them years ago, those bits and pieces quickly devolve into something far removed from those origins and eventually take on a life of their own.



For So Long It's Not True - performed by Alarm Will Sound

Recorded by the Bel Cuore Quartet for their 2017 album Splashing The Canvas
Composed by Steven Snowden

Splashing The Canvas

Speed Studies

Speed Studies - Bel Cuore Sax Quartet

Commissioned by Matthew Miracle and premiered Oct. 27, 2011

For more info about this piece, got to:
http://www.stevensnowden.com/portfolio/shovelhead-2/

Program Notes:
The Shovelhead was a notoriously cantankerous, but much beloved V-twin motorcycle engine manufactured from 1966 to 1984 by the Harley Davidson Motor Company. The name was derived from the way in which the engines rocker boxes resemble the inverted heads of coal shovels. Though prone to oil leaks, hard-starting and over heating, this engine defined the unique Harley sound that many love (or hate) today. Thanks to my friend, Amber Alarcón and my Harley, Fricka for providing all of the source material upon which this piece is based.

Shovelhead - for Bass Clarinet and Interactive Electronics

Recorded by Invoke for their "American Postcards" project.

Tent Revival

Part of a four movement work for solo percussion and electronics titled "Long Distance".  All samples (excepts for the marimba) come from recordings of pay phones in the 1970's.  

Brooklyn, NY - 1975 - Marimba and electronics (demo)

Remix 
Stems from Bent Knee's Shiny Eyed Babies
Courtney Swain - Vocals
Gavin Wallace Ailsworth - Drums

Oh my daughters, oh my sons

Part of a four movement work for solo percussion and electronics titled "Long Distance".  All samples (excepts for the vibes) come from recordings of pay phones in the 1970's.  

Atlanta, GA - 1972 - Vibes and electronics (demo)

Schuyler Slack - Cello
Recorded on Oct 7, 2019 
In Your Ear Studios - Richmond, VA

Find out more about this piece here:
http://www.stevensnowden.com/portfolio/this-mortal-frame/

This Mortal Frame: Mvt. 2 - The Crossing at Aquia Creek

Steam Man of the Prairies was a dime store science fiction novel written by Edward S. Ellis in 1868 and is widely considered to be the earliest depiction of a humanoid robot in popular culture. Despite Ellis’s rather clumsy writing style and overtly racist depictions of Irish immigrants and Native Americans, this novel provides an interesting perspective on the excitement surrounding innovations in steam technology and exploration of the Western United States in the late 1800’s.
 
Just as the Steam Man represented the attainment of superhuman capabilities through the use of technology, this piece utilizes electronics to expand the sonic palate of the piano and clarinet. By limiting electronically produced sounds to only recordings of extended piano techniques (bowed, plucked, muted, and scraped) my goal was to create a sonic bridge between the timbres of the clarinet and piano in an attempt to create the illusion of a single super-instrument. As a means to take this sonic cohesion one step further, amplification of the electronic sounds in this piece forgoes a typical loudspeaker setup in favor small vibration speakers attached to the soundboard of the piano. This method allows the strings of the piano to vibrate sympathetically with the electronics and takes advantage of the instrument’s natural acoustic resonance.

Special thanks to the Escola Superior de Música, Artes e Espectáculo in Porto, Portugal for allowing me to record most of the piano extended techniques used in this piece on one of their concert grand pianos.

Steam Man of the Prairies (demo)

Composer, tinkerer, found sound enthusiast.
<a href="http://stevensnowden.com"></a>