August 2024

Step-by-step

I mentioned to a friend the other day that creating this piece is rather like building the airplane while it's flying.

Each new idea on how to control the loops in Ableton presents new challenges for keeping the soloist parts simple and easy to understand.

MIDI 101 …

The "Tech" soloist parts were conceived to be wrtten in standard notation. When a note is pressed on the MIDI keyboard it triggers a specific event in Ableton live –  usually a loop, but sometimes FX controls, etc.

To keep it simple, I decided that all 4 soloists parts should be in treble clef with a range from middle C up 2 octaves to the C above the staff. Simple is good.

The Novation LaunchKey Mini keyboards have a 2 octave range - C to C - that matches the notation.

Time for MIDI 101. How many standard MIDI channels are there? 16. How many soloists? 4

Thanks to thorough MIDI implementation by Novation's engineers, each Tech's keyboard can be assigned a unique MIDI channel from 1 to 4. Channel 16 will be reserved for sending the MIDI data when the knobs are rotated. In other words, each keyboard will have it's own separate lane with no other traffic. For technology that was created 40 years ago, I'd say MIDI is holding up quite well!

Turning Knobs

At points in each movement, the Techs will be instructed to turn one of two control knobs on their MIDI keyboard to modify a triggered loop. Turning a knob may adjust volume, control FX on the loop, etc. 

So the question is: How do I show the Techs which knob to rotate when, in which direction, and for how long?

I created several different graphics showing a circle with an arrow showing direction and something like a pedal marking in piano music to indicating the length. None of them seemed intuitive to me.

I showed the examples to Max, our bass playing son, and he said, "Why not just use crescendo/descresdo markings?"

As long as the Techs know crescendo = clockwise and decresendo = counterclockwise, I think we have a winner.

Here's an example for the Tech to play a note and rotate knob 1 clockwise then counterclockwise. Make sense?

Moving from sketch to full score

As of today (8/5/24) movements 1 and 2 are settling in nicely. Movement 3 is on track to be competed this week. Once I am comforatble with how the 3 movements flow, I can creating the full score for band and soloists.
Stay tuned for an update later this month!

Inclusion

When I sampled the WSU Wind Ensemble players back in May, I promised that each of them would appear somewhere in the piece. As I have now completed sketch scores for all three movements, I thought I'd better make sure I'm keeping my promises.

This list will likely change as I complete the full score, but all the players DO make an appearance in one or more of the movements … although you may not recognize them!

Conductors review

Dr. Melanie Brooks Dinh and I originally wrote the MSAB grant thinking she would be the conductor this November. After welcoming her daughter, Eliza, to the world last spring, Dr. Brooks Dinh was offered a sabbatical for the coming academic year.  My wife, Dr. Janet Heukeshoven, has been hired as WSU's interim Wind Ensemble director for the year and she'll be conducting the premiere of re-synth in November.

The two conductors met on August 16 to review a printed sketch score and audio.

 The sketch score has given me a way to hear how the samples interact with the band parts. 

You can listen to the "comped" version below.

With both conductors' blessings it's now on to the full score!