This piece is an exploration and implementation of John Cage’s Process/Method/Materials compositional technique. The Process is a Maschine session set to 80 BPM, 4/4 in the Key of Cmaj. The session was then divided into nine groups of seven measures, then further divided into 16th notes. The Method was derived from a series of nine sketches of parabolic curves on a grid. The grid’s Y-Axis corresponded to the standard midi range, 0-127, while the X-Axis, corresponded to the nine groups of seven. The rules for the parabolic sketches were as follows. 1. There must be a value change greater that 40 over a given measure. 2. The end value of one set of parabolic curves must equal the starting value of the next set of parabolic curves. In the Maschine session, these data were applied to the velocity of the kick drum. With that same midi data, I fed the Max/MSP patch to help bridge the gap between the internal mechanisms of indeterminate system. Lastly, the Materials were derived entirely from the recorded statement from myself “I’m afraid that if I lean on you, that you will disappear”. Various acoustic, electronic, and sampling techniques were applied to the sample.
To the Smallest
Published:

To the Smallest

Published: