As I have been working on Nebadon I have been able to make
some ground conceptually over the last week which has been nice. I should note
I have yet to play a single note, I have also not listened to the recording
anymore (that time has come and gone for a few months). That being said I do
spend quite a lot of time listening to the electronic tracks of whatever
electronic works I work on. It is similar to recording/score study with any
other music. The challenge behind this is as always, how does one notate sound?
Stockhausen did not attempt to, there are some cues to vocal elements, but the
main guide post I have is a time scale, as well as the noted time duration of various sections. A requirement for the performer in Nebadon is the precise alignment
with the beginning of electronic tracks, which is easier said than done.
Past electronic works I have done that used time scale only
alignment (so not graphic notation of electronic tracks) you end up in a kind
of balancing act between the perception of musical time (tempo/rhythm) and the
actual elapse of time (seconds). This is a dizzying experience at best, especially
when the music falls outside of logical divisions of the second. One thing I
have found that really helps me here is knowledge of the complete score
(including electronics) and to have smaller alignment points between larger points.
When trying to find these smaller points I tend to search for unison pitches,
similar rhythms, or recognizable tonal material such as thirds, fourths,
fifths, etc, that exist between the horn and the electronic part. One you
decide on these elements you can notate an exact time point that helps in the
architecture of that set of time points. In Nebadon right now, as I have not
put horn to face I am only trying to navigate my way through the sounds for
artistic ideas. For example, do I want to contrast or match (within the
confines of Stochkausen’s instructions), as I learn the work these points will
become more and more obvious, though history has taught me the mindful the work
I do now, the easier it will when trying to coordinate later.
The next challenge I am going to be trying to wrap my brain
around is of Stockhausen’s tempos, for those of you that are not aware
Stockhausen discovered that tempos are related in ways similar to that of the
chromatic scale. This is something that was met with conflict and still is.
That being said, it is something unique to Stockhausen’s music so as a
performer we have to observe it.
Here you can see the tempo scheme for Gruppen. Cosmic Pulses
(the electronic material for Nebadon is drawn from here) is based on 24 tempos,
from 240bpm to 1.17bpm. So in short I will be dealing with tempos I am not used
to. Luckily, I have a metronome that will do decimal places.
Until next time.
“I no longer limit myself” – Karlheinz Stockhausen
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