CHRISTOPHER TRAPANI CONVERGENCE LINES for ten players and live electronics (2013) Convergence Lines (2013) ——————————————————————————————— Duration: ca. 24 minutes Score in C Instrumentation: Piccolo / Flute (tuned a quarter-tone lower) / Alto Flute in G Clarinet in Bb / Bass Clarinet in Bb Horn in F Trumpet (doubling slide whistle) Trombone Percussion (1 player: Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Tom-Toms (3), Suspended Cymbal, Sizzle Cymbal, China Cymbal, Splash Cymbal, Hi-Hat, Tam-Tam, Wood Block, Claves, Maracas, Bongos (pair), Sandpaper Blocks, Cowbell, Whip, Vibraphone, Crotales, Almglocken [F3 - D5], Steel Drum [D#3 - D#5, whole-tone]) Harp Piano Violin Contrabass (5-string) Performance Notes: 1. The electronics require 6-channel output and a Max/MSP 5 patch with certain externals (CataRT, Bach, FTM, Antescofo~), available from GRAME (Lyon, France) or the composer. Events appear in the score either as boxed numbers or small bold numbers. The boxed numbers must be triggered in real-time on the the downbeat of each measure where they fall; preferably this should be done by the conductor, but the flutist or even the violinist could also take this role. 2. Extensive use is made of various types of mutes and preparations, detailed on the following page. For prepared / muted instruments, the dynamic indicated always reflects the force of play and not the acoustic result. The conductor should use his judgment and intuition to experiment with and adjust the balance with muted instruments. 3. In microtonal passages, care is taken to distinguish between the tunings of the seventh partial (represented by a natural or flat with a downward arrow attached) and an eleventh or thirteenth partial, which uses the same notation as tempered quarter-tones (a backwards flat or half sharp). 4. The trumpet and trombone players must each have the following mutes: straight, cup, harmon, cleartone, and buzz-wow. 5. Natural harmonics in the horn part are noted with the fundamental in concert pitch above the given passage. 6. Arrows over the part indicate a gradual change between two playing techniques. 7. A "Z" on the stem denotes different techniques for different instruments. For the violin, a z on the stem indicates a jagged and irregular tremolando, something like morse code. For the harp it is — as always — a buzz effect created with the pedal. For the percussion, contrabass, and piano, a z on the stem serves as a reminder of a buzz-style preparation. 8. Dynamic swells are indicated with a set of crescendi / decresendi in brackets followed by a dotted line indicating the length of the swells. Placed above another set of dynamic indications, this denotes s series of fluctuating swells within the context of the dynamics below the dotted line. Players are invited to vary and select appropriate speeds of swells ad libitum. SCORDATURA / PREPARATIONS * The C Flute must be tuned down by a quarter-tone throughout the piece. Fingerings are 'normal' tempered pitches. Piccolo / Flute ° Alto Flute in G & ∑ * The Trumpet player must have a slide whistle, used in movement VI. Trumpet in C & ¢ CROTALES ALMGLOCKEN * In movement X., the crotales are played VIBRAPHONE WHIP * The percussionist must have multiple by dropping a washer onto the discs and letting it rebound and settle. The percussionist * In movement X., the vibraphone is prepared * the whip should thimbles to place inside the almglocken by moving a fishing line with multiple wahers be pitched as low to create a buzzing effect can tie fishing line around the washer to keep it from falling onto the floor. into place, creating a buzz effect on every note. as possible Percussion & ∑ / * Notes in this register should be prepared before the piece begins with small pieces of Other harp preparations are required throughout the piece: aluminum foil wrapped around each string - prepared with cloth: felt woven once between the strings for a damping effect with some pitch to create a noticeable buzzing effect - double-threaded cloth: felt woven twice between the strings, a damping effect with no discernable pitch * - prepared with closthespin: clothespins placed on strings to create a "multiphonic" sound œ - prepared with clothespin and aluminum foil: a combined "multiphonic" and buzzing effect & A piece of paper should be woven between the four lowest Harp strings throughout the piece to create a sustained buzzing effect Z ? œ œ œ œ œ “‘ * Notes in this register should be prepared N. B.: Later in the piece (movements IX. and XII.), before the piece begins with paper over the * The pianist must also have rubber is placed between the strings to thoroghly deaden { strings to create a buzzing effect a guitar pick or plastic card the sound, so that there is no longer and discernable * and a hard percussion mallet pitch, but rather a dull percussive attack œ & With four free clamps. Almost Piano One free, loose clamp on no pitch; resonance deadens each string; pitch + buzz automatically after 2 seconds Z mark the positions of the 11th and 13th partials ? œ œ #œ œ œ #œ nœ (make sure that the D natural rings free, œbœ#œ nœ not dampened by prepared notes) “‘ { * The violinist must have a practice mute (sourdine en plomb) as well as a paper clip, used in movement VIII. Violin ° & * The contrabassist must have a five-string contrabass with the lowest string tuned to C. Additionally, this fifth string is prepared by wrapping a small piece of aluminum foil loosely around the string to create a noticeable buzzing effect in both pizzicato and arco passages. Contrabass ? ¢‹ "Convergence Lines" of Christopher Trapani Instrumental setting revision of 21th Juin 2013 Details of percussions: Steel Drum (one pan: F3 -> F5 whole-tone) Almglocken (selected lower bells: F3, G3, B3) Vibraphone Crotales PERCUSSION Snare Drum Tom-Toms Bass Drum Mic13 Mic14 Mic15 Mic16 Bongos Suspended Cymbal Splash Cymbal Cymbal with Rivets (Sizzle Cymbal) China Cymbal Maracas Shaker Mic10 Tpt Cor Tbn Piano prepared Mic11 Mic12 Harp prepared DB Cla + Cla.B Mic9 Mic7 Mic8 V1 Flu + picc Mic6 Mic2 Mic3 Mic4 Mic5 Mic1 LS1 foot switch sustain to midi LS2 SUB C converter SUB LS7 LS8 stage Microphone 1: Violin / DPA 4021 + VH4000 clamp Microphone 2: Double Bass / DPA 4021 + VH4000 clamp Microphone 3: Clarinet / KM184 set on mic stand public Microphone 4: Clarinet Bass / KM184 set on mic stand Microphone 5: Flute Sol and Piccolo / head set DPA4061 Microphone 6: Harp / KM184 set on mic stand Microphone 7: Harp / C411 contact microphone Microphone 8-9 : Piano / 2x C414 condenser cardioïde set on mic stand Microphone 10 : Horn / DPA 4099 with CC4099 fixed by a stick gafa Microphone 11 : Trumpet / DPA 4099 with CC4099 fixed by a stick gafa Microphone 12 : Trombon / DPA 4099 with CC4099 fixed by a stick gafa Microphone 13-14-15:-16 Percu / 4x C414 or MKH40 condenser cardioïde set on mic stand LS6 LS3 MacBook Pro core i7 16Go RAM MaxMSP 5 licence Antescofo midi in RME-F800 Adat(8) Adat(8) 16 Mic input 48v 8 aux 6 in Loudspeaker 1 ( MPB600 ) out Loudspeaker 2 ( MPB600 ) Loudspeaker 3 ( MPB600 ) Loudspeaker 4 ( MPB600 ) Loudspeaker 5 ( MPB600 ) LS5 Digital Mixer Loudspeaker 6 ( MPB600 ) LS4 Loudspeaker 7 ( 2*MPB200R linked ) 11 separate output Loudspeaker 8 ( 2*MPB200R linked ) Loudspeakers ( 2*SUB ) updated the 17/01/2014 Composer's Note: This project began with the idea of writing a new piece in 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Thomas Pynchon’s V. —his ambitious first novel, a huge canvas drawing together a large cast of vivid characters, far- flung settings, and a disjointed sense of time. Translating postmodern literary devices to music is a longstanding interest of mine, and here the most captivating challenge was to create a musical parallel for its unorthodox structure: two independent strands of narrative that converge towards the end of the book. The first of these, presented in straightforward chronological episodes, is rooted in 1950’s Manhattan, following the misadventures of Benny Profane and his cohorts in The Whole Sick Crew. The second thread features Herbert Stencil’s quest for a woman who appears in his father’s journals, known only by the initial V. The chapters recounting Stencil’s search jump freely through several eras of the past and multiple exotic locales—Egypt, Florence, Namibia, Paris, Malta—each a vignette with a new atmosphere and a sub- narrative of its own, loosely linked to the others only by a V-named woman who may or may not be the same in each instance… The result is Convergence Lines, a piece in twelve parts, each lasting about two minutes. The odd-numbered episodes follow the New York storyline, often drawing inspiration from the sounds of 50’s American music: big band, salsa, jazz… These generally up-tempo and rhythmically intricate sections, often foregrounding the brass, are connected by shared material and sonorities, creating a sense of development and forward motion. Even-numbered sections on the other hand make no attempt to preserve continuity. Drawing on the novel’s fixation with travel-guide, romantic exoticism, each presents a self-contained, crystallized world with a sonic palette of its own. Material begins to progressively bleed over into adjacent sections as we approach the point of convergence (section XI.), where many previously-heard sounds interact—just before being subsumed by an intrusive wash of white, the closing whirlpool... Another significant theme of V. is the widening divide between humanity and the inanimate, between man and machine. One musical translation of this idea is the use of mutes, preparations, and other unusual objects to physically alter the resonant properties of nearly all of the instruments. The brass play with multiple mutes, including a few functionally obsolete ones from the swing band era such as the cleartone and buzz-wow mutes.