Andrew Watts

Date completed: spring 2013

Duration: 7'30"

Instrumentation: bass clarinet (dbl Bb clarinet), harp, violin, and cello

Recording: East Coast Contemporary Ensemble (ECCE) at the 2013 Etchings Festival in Auvillar, France

Vacuum of the Mind (2013)

Documentary about the work produced by Ensemble Musikfabrik (YouTube):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=_8cce8Z-Nkixqwgf&v=BFrIfk4Bl0s&feature=youtu.be

Turgut Erçetin, composer/interview
Carl Rosman, clarinet/interview
Aaron Cassidy, conductor

Hans Fahr, video/editing
Commissioned by Kunststiftung NRW and Ensemble Musikfabrik

image credit: Photograph by Félix Bonfils, 1875

"Thousand Dead Bodies Under My Bed, All Cloaked with the Breath of the Living"

Date completed: winter 2013

Duration: 7'15"

Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano

Recording: 
SONAR New Music Ensemble conducted by Lee Mills in Baltimore, MD

Man With A Black Bag (2013)

Date completed: November 2013

Duration: 9'40"

Instrumentation: electric guitar and 1/4" jack

Recording: 
Andrew Watts in New Freedom, PA

Ipseity / Disturbance (2013)

Performed by Ensemble Interface at Bilkent Concert Hall
Recording mastered by Pieter Snapper

Bettina Danielle Berger, flute 
Christophe Mathias, cello 
Agnieszka Koprowska-Born, percussion
 Anna D’Errico, piano

upa.naxturušu (2013), for flute, cello, percussion and piano

"Power Chords for 4 Channels," completed in July of 2023, is an exploration of sound design and sonic aesthetics anchored in the arena of rock and metal guitar. Inspired by the concept of a "ghost in the overtones," this work seeks to pull back the curtain on the guitar signal's spectral complexities, highlighting elusive musical expressions hidden within. At its core, it takes three rudimentary power chords: A5, G5, and E5, recorded with heavy distortion and saturation to emphasize the timbral richness.

This composition is not merely about power chords, but rather about the myriad possibilities concealed within their overtones. It operates within a paradox, both a study in restrictive musical content and a testament to the boundless potentialities of sound manipulation. The first 20 seconds of material act as the kernel of the piece, spawning dozens of variants through the use of filters, time-stretching techniques, and algorithmic playback triggers. It is a calculated venture into the drama of the minimal, extracting nuance and depth from the most fundamental elements of rock and metal. "Power Chords for 4 Channels" ultimately delivers a curious, layered fixed media playback experience, born from a pursuit of spectral phantoms within the simplest of musical building blocks.

Power Chords (stereo version)

Date completed: April 2014

Duration: 8'30"

Recording: 
Wellesley Composers Conference 
Tony Arnold, soprano
Barry Crawford, flute
Benjamin Fingland, clarinet
Pablo Rieppi, percussion
Chris Oldfather, piano
Miranda Cuckson, violin
Chris Gross, cello

Conducted by James Baker

Negative Seven Degrees (2014)

Rosa de Paracelso (2014)
para flauta (bajo y picc.)y cuarteto de cuerdas

Matteo Cesari (Italia), flauta
Quartetto Prometeo (Italia)

Rosa de Paracelso (2014)


 "Interlude" is part of "The Experiment", a monodrama by David Chisholm

Interlude - M.Carrasco - Live Recording Adelaide Festival

Performed by Wet Ink Ensemble: Kate Soper (voice), Erin Lesser (picc, flute, bass flute), Alex Mincek (tenor sax), Josh Modney (violin), Eric Wubbels (piano), Ian Antonio (percussion), and Sam Pluta (electronics), at St. Peter's Church Chelsea, April 30th 2016

What does joy sound like to a mouse? To a moose???
What does joy sound like to a blue bird? To a blue whale???
What do these sounds explained by these animals look like to a fly and… 
What does what they look like to a fly through her compound eye sound like?   
Answer: this piece.
 

Fly's Eyes

Written for and performed by Distractfold (April 2017).

Zinajda Kodrič, Flute
Rocío Bolaños, Clarinet
Daniel Brew, Electric Guitar
Christian Smith, Percussion
Linda Jankowska, Violin
Emma Richards, Viola
Alice Purton, Violoncello

Six Silver Rings of (((Aquamarine))) is divided into nine sections, forming a three-part chiasmic ring structure, encasing a tape part, (((Aquamarine))), as its centerpiece. 

(((Aquamarine))), for solo Kingma System flute with glissando headjoint and seven recorded flutes, is divided into three larger sections formed by its golden spiral structure, which places its most significant focal point at the direct center of the spiral.

"Six Silver Rings Of (((Aquamarine)))", for Septet (2017) | Distractfold

Recorded on November 14th, 2018 – Woodside, California

This week our guest is Davor Branimir Vincze, a Croatian composer living in Palo Alto, California. Davor has participated in a number of top festivals and residencies such as Impuls, MATA, Manifeste, and Royaumont. Similarly, his works have been premiered by several leading ensembles today including Ensemble Intercontemporain, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Talea, and Ensemble Recherche.

Davor began his university education in composition at Graz and Stuttgart, and later studied at IRCAM in Paris. He has worked closely with Stefano Gervasoni, Georg Friedrich Haas, Klaus Lang, Mauro Lanza, and Marco Stroppa - all major figures in the field. Currently, Davor is completing his doctorate in composition at Stanford with Brian Ferneyhough.

Laibach Concerto: https://soundcloud.com/davor-branimir-vincze/laibach-concerto
Inflection Point: https://soundcloud.com/davor-branimir-vincze/inflectionpoint-em

http://www.db-vincze.com/
https://soundcloud.com/davor-branimir-vincze

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX4v1_HIlkU

Episode I: Davor Branimir Vincze

Instrumentations:	One Electronic guitar, Two prepared Acoustic guitars, One Electronic Bass and One Midi-controller 
World Premiere: November 2019 
Interstring project 
Crossroads  International Music Festival, Salzburg, Austria

Unclipped Asymmetrical Cycling [2019]

Andrew A. Watts is a composer of chamber, symphonic, multimedia, and electro-acoustic works performed worldwide. His compositions have premiered at venues like Burning Man, Ravinia, Jordan Hall, and Holywell Music Room, featuring collaborations with top new music groups such as Dal Niente, Ekmeles, Proton Bern, Distractfold, and Line Upon Line. His recent work, Silicon Valley Requiem, premiered in May 2022.

Watts earned his doctorate from Stanford, master's from Oxford, and bachelor's from the New England Conservatory. His music explores technology, post-human themes, and language desemanticization, often using invented instruments. His treatment of microtonality focuses on evolving material under tight constraints, creating precise surface gestures as impetus for his compositions.

Currently a Lecturer at UC Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies, Watts also teaches a summer workshop on Algorithmic Composition at Stanford's CCRMA.

Ipseity / Disturbance (2013)

Andrew Watts

Related tracks