lowkey digital studio » Faculty Composers Recital

discourages the kinds of

Nathan — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:23:42 +0000

Spring 2009 Faculty Composers Recital @ Elizabeth Hall Auditorium, Stetson University in DeLand, FL. Featuring David Plakon on guitar.

This piece is a first attempt to couple my laptop performance system with another live musician. The electric guitar improvises using short motives that are captured by the laptop. This sonic material is processed and looped to form a variety of textures. Part 1 slowly builds to form a wall of looping figures that evokes a meditative state. Part 2 uses chords as the basis for an animated rhythmic pattern that features subtle changes in timbre. Overall, this piece demonstrates the expressive potential of the laptop in small ensemble settings.

Part 1 in MP3 – 8 min 30 sec
Part 2 in MP3 – 6 min 41 sec

here among

Nathan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:35:16 +0000

Spring 2008 Faculty Composers Recital @ Elizabeth Hall Auditorium, Stetson University in DeLand, FL.

Go-Go-Go. Music is usually the place where I take refuge, find calm, enjoy meditation. Not this time. My hectic pace spills over into the sound and hurries the notes, infuses energy, excites the ear. Must slow down. The harmonic language fights against this thick texture, unflustered by the hurried pace, slowly churning the waters. Can’t stop now. Together they negotiate their way forward, providing a window into the pace of life at the moment, providing a personal form of silicon therapy.

live recording in MP3 – 10 min 31 sec

desire for

Nathan — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:45:38 +0000

Fall 2007 Faculty Composers Recital @ Elizabeth Hall Auditorium, Stetson University in DeLand, FL.

In the summer of 2007, I traveled to Europe with my family. Late one afternoon while resting in a Swiss hotel, the sounds of an alphorn ensemble in the distance began to echo through the alley into the window. The slow, pleasant droning continued for several hours well into the evening. “desire for” is the continuing echo of these alphorns in my memory.

live recording in MP3 – 10 min, 56 sec

also apply

Nathan — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 01:55:26 +0000

Performed on the Spring 2007 Faculty Composers Recital. Held at Elizabeth Hall Auditorium, Stetson University in DeLand, FL.

Since 2004, I have made a series of recordings capturing familiar water sounds and used them as inspiration for my work. This piece musically recreates gestures that evoke the patter of a moderate rain and waves crashing upon the shore. These two ideas are set in contrast with one another, yet the resulting blend betrays the classical element that inspired them both: water.

This piece is also featured as part 3 of an audiovisual collaboration between myself and Matt Roberts, collectively known as Events.

live performance in MP3 – 9 min, 28 sec
studio version in MP3 – 7 min, 40 sec

used these

Nathan — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 02:59:56 +0000

Fall 2006 Faculty Composers Recital @ Elizabeth Hall Auditorium, Stetson University in DeLand, FL.

In June 2006, I traveled to Ontario to participate in a symposium on the legacy of composer Iannis Xenakis, in addition to doing a little sightseeing with my family. Acoustic materials for this piece are drawn from recordings I made during this visit to Canada. These are juxtaposed with sonic elements that merge my existing style of gradually changing textures with techniques pioneered by Xenakis. The end result is a unique document of the trip, fragmented through memory and adapted by the process of composition.

live recording in MP3 – 10 min, 6 sec

through some

Nathan — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 01:28:27 +0000

This piece is an artifact, evidence of a day spent in the studio avoiding mundane tasks, reconnecting with an artist who at the time felt neglected, forsaken and buried beneath an Everest of to-do items and checklists that for just one day had to be put on hold so that he could remember how much fun it was to play for a bit, to create new sounds out of nothing and then sculpt them with these fascinating machines. This piece is an artifact.

studio recording in MP3 – 8 min, 13 sec

mini-concrète

Nathan — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 02:58:06 +0000

“mini-concrète” was composed as an exercise in self-imposed limitations when faced with the myriad possibilities of the modern digital audio software. Only one channel of sound is used making the pacing and ordering of sound events the sole focus of attention. For a composer whose pieces usually focus on the interaction of slowly changing layers, this brief and compact work stands is a stark contrast.

studio recording in MP3 – 1 min, 52 sec