Graphic score show and tell. Also, it's time to pre-order the A/B Duo album.

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Panel 1 of 3, Blueprint. My graphic score for the Soundwave Biennial. More info about Blueprint below.

I just finished my piece for the Soundwave Biennial (GREEN segment) so my focus is now on the A/B Duo Kickstarter. Many thanks to those who have already contributed!!! Please consider backing our project. It's currently at 53%.

The album will

be called "Variety Show" and it will contain 7 flute/percussion pieces written by Drew Baker, Brooks Frederickson, Brendon Randall-Myers, Ian Dicke, Zack Browning, Andrea Reinkemeyer, and Ned McGowan.

Please check out our Kickstarter project and pre-order today!

I hope to be able to share some more exciting Other Chamber Music Stuff that's been brewing in the next couple months!

Show and Tell:

My first try at a graphic score.

Many of you sent me encouraging notes about my first composition and graphic score. Thank you for your cheerleading! It's now completed. As you can see from the first panel above, the orientation to the score is different for each instrument. It continues the same way in the 2nd panel. In the 3rd, everyone but the contrabass/bass flute reads the piece the same way.

I had a few objectives/constraints for this piece based on the venue, instrumentation, and logistics/time.
1) In April I found out when/where my piece will be presented so I didn't have that much time to finish the piece or schedule time with my performers.
2) It was written to be performed inside Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, which is a very live space, so I decided that the piece should not require interlocking rhythms or tight ensemble work.
3) All of my performers have very busy summers so I needed the piece to work with minimal rehearsal time.
4) The piece had to work with the theme of Architecture. This was the biggest challenge. Since my piece was to be performed at Grace Cathedral, I chose instruments that reflect the pipe organs in the church. I also spent an afternoon sitting in the church and walking the outdoor labyrinth there. If you really think about it, all notated music is like a blueprint for music. I tried to take the blueprint idea and try to marry aspects of architectural blueprints with graphic notation.
5) The final constraint I gave myself was that the performers should be able to interpret the scores without much written instruction. My pet peeve is when the written instructions are longer than the score or if the score doesn't convey almost everything that the performer needs to perform the piece. This was tough in the last movement and I ended up writing instructions. ðŸ˜• I am convinced that I could have gotten away from written instructions if I used animated notation for the last movement.

In the first panel (movement?) I drew pipe organs that also look like cross sections of soil or underground materials. (It helps that my father was a landscape architect so I remember seeing a lot of these kinds of blueprints around the house.)

The second panel started with grids that resemble rebar that is used on concrete foundations. The noteheads are diamond shaped so that it can be easily viewed from any of the 4 orientations.

The last panel was the most difficult to put on paper. It was the first idea I had but the last to finish. After walking the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral, I knew I had to include it or something relating to the labyrinth somehow. In the end I decided to include an actual drawing of the labyrinth. This movement has written instructions (unfortunately!) and I don't want to give them away so I hope you can make it to the show on August 5th!

Many thanks to my woodwind colleagues who are performing this with me: Michael Hernandez (soprano sax), Kassey Plaha (flute, and Kris King (contraforte).

All my CDs are now available at Flute World!

Coming up:

August 5 - Soundwave Biennial
Premiering my new composition: Blueprint for soprano sax, flute, contrabass flute, and contraforte!
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

Sunday, August 12 - National Flute Convention
Areon Flutes will perform a piece by Danny Clay!
San Diego, CA