Written for solo zheng, this is the instrumental version of Manufactured Realities, a work that exists in three versions.
Performed by Jing-Mu Kuo.
Recorded at C-LAB Taiwan Sound Lab, August 2021.
Please view Version 1 and Version 2: https://youtu.be/XUxzUSyqlic

Manufactured Realities, Version 3 for solo 21-string zheng

Written for solo 21-string zheng, this is the instrumental version of Manufactured Realities, a work that exists in three versions.
Performed by Jing-Mu Kuo.
Recorded at C-LAB Taiwan Sound Lab, August 2021.

Manufactured Realities, ver.3 (2021) for solo 21-string zheng

In the first 15 minutes of this recording, the fragments are played in the order: 4-2-5-1-6-3. 
For fragments in two other combinations, please listen to the following moments: 
16:00-22:03 (Fragments 1-6-4), 23:30-31:11 (Fragments 3-5-4)
For the most salient aspects of the work:
0:00-1:20 (Fragment 4, mm.1-8)
3:55-4:40 (Fragment 5, mm.2-12)
7:14-8:50 (Fragment 6, mm.1-13)
10:33-14:40 (Fragment 3, mm.2-11)

Because of time constraints, the work was played at a faster tempo, with shorter fermatas. It was recorded during a reading session with Broken Frames Syndicate in Germany on 2 November 2021. It has not yet been presented publicly.

Program Note:
An Index to a Myriad of Unformed Futures consists of six fragments that can be performed in any order. As well, any number of three or more fragments may be played; up to two fragments may each be repeated a maximum of three times consecutively or be replayed at later points in the performance. The work is about fragility, impressions, fleeting moments, and a presence that anticipates its own inevitable disappearance. Each fragment is forever in the process of becoming, but never fully arriving. The work explores contrasts between sound mass and single tone, fully-formed pitch and coloured noise, all suspended within a web of fragility. Seemingly static textures morph through micro-variations and slow linear processes. Walls of sound gradually arise, only to spontaneously combust, leaving behind wisps of smoke in the form of a pregnant pause, an unadorned instrument, or a decaying resonance. 

This piece represents my first time working exclusively with extremely quiet and sustained sounds, deliberately avoiding dense, complex, and rhythmic gestures. I challenged myself to fully immerse in sound and in timelessness through the construction of self-sufficient units that inform a greater whole.

An Index to a Myriad of Unformed Futures(2021)

Premiered in Frankfurt at Naxos Hallekonzert by Broken Frames Syndicate on 13 November 2022. Recorded and mixed by Pablo Garreton

Broken Frames Syndicate: Lautaro Mura Fuentealba (conductor), Katrin Szamatulski (flute), Moritz Schneidewendt (clarinet), Peng-Hui Wang (bassoon), Yu-Ling Chiu (percussion), Marco Ramaglia (piano), William Overcash (violin), Veronika Paleeva (violin), Laura Hovestadt (viola), Nathan Watts (cello)

Program Note
In the process of producing sound we confront its potentiality, its mode of being, and its mortality. Each sound binds itself to various levels of subjective experience, simultaneously collapsing and becoming through interpretation and perception. Each sound recalls its mode of production—the labour that summoned it into existence—signalling degrees of resistance and effort. Through An Index to a Myriad of Unformed Futures (ii), I create snapshots of a sonic being’s existence in various states, contexts, and configurations that point towards possible futures and alternative realities. The musical materials take detours and inform one another to generate new ones. Avoiding commitments to concepts of “beginning” or “end”, they simply exist from one moment to the next. As such, this work attempts to transcend finality and linearity, instead embracing fluidity and circularity.

An Index to a Myriad of Unformed Futures (ii)

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Check out my main account soundcloud.com/wkuo

Manufactured Realities, ver.3 (2021) for solo 21-string zheng

William Kuo

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