Report — Pedram Diba

Composer/Performer Orchestration Research Ensemble Report

Pedram Diba
04/12/2020

The core ensemble of the ACTOR Project is quite unusual and heterogenous in nature. When I joined this seminar, I knew that I will be learning and discovering a lot of new ideas as well as challenging myself in new ways that I had not done before. In this paper, I will talk about the aspects of the seminar that I found very helpful and beneficial to me as a composer to overcome the challenges I faced. I will also talk about what I think could be improved about these aspects of the seminar in the future.

To begin, I found the concept of additional small percussion instruments to be liberating; however, I wish it was a little less vague. For example, if the composers were told they can use up to five additional small percussion instruments, it would have been more restricting, but at the same time more clear. While deciding on my small percussion instruments, I had an urge to use more than ten or fifteen instruments to add as much variety of sounds and timbres as possible. However, in the end I used one additional instrument because I wanted to stay honest to the purpose of this project and use the four primary instruments as the main source of timbre.

I found the presentations on timbre from different perspectives (composer, researcher, conductor, etc.), given at the beginning of the year, quite interesting and very insightful. It enabled me be introduced to various concepts and terminology that I could further research about later. I especially found the presentations on perceptual effect quite interesting. As a composer, I am constantly considering the perceptual effects of what I am writing. As a result, what I put on the paper is always with a purpose of creating a perceptual effect. These perceptual effects could be in regard to the discourse, the relationship of timbre, harmony, and rhythm, creating different hierarchies within the sound, or any other possibilities. One thing I wish was done more during this period was more presentations on perceptual affects. Accompaniment of musical examples during these presentations would also be quite necessary, since without musical examples these concepts could be very abstract. Another possibility would be to ask the students to read certain required scholarly articles and turn in summaries of them by the end of the semester. This would of course be in addition to the ten or more scholarly articles that each student has to read on their own for the annotated bibliography. These required scholarly writings could be Pierre Schaeffer’s Ecological Model, Robert Cogan’s Phonologic Model, Francesco Gioni and Marco Ligabue’s Aesthetic-Cognitive Model, etc., which could help composers be more in control of what they write, especially within the content of a unique ensemble like that of ACTOR’s core ensemble, and not be the victim of the results. This might also result in making the period of experimentation with the ensemble, and the period of troubleshooting more fruitful.

Additionally, I believe it would be interesting to have more guest composers do presentations. These presentations could be on pieces of music composers wrote for a unique heterogeneous ensemble. They can perhaps discuss how they approached writing for the ensemble and how they troubleshoot some of the issue they came across. The guest composers can also focus on how they approached timbre as a form baring element in their works.

I also found the group presentation of the ensemble members very beneficial. As a composer, I always start from very broad lens of sound. Before deciding what exact harmony, rhythmic pattern, or orchestration, I decide on the qualities of the sound I’m seeking. The presentation of the ensemble members exposed me to different sounds that they generated together, and although these sounds were out of the musical time, their qualities and their possibilities of transformation gave me new musical and compositional ideas. One example of this is when the ensemble presented two different sounds (1. a slow wide vibrato on the same tone played by everyone 2. holding a mallet on the bar of the vibraphone to create a specific grainy sound effect), it gave me the idea of combining these two sounds. In the final draft of the pieces two out of the three composers used this sound effect in their pieces. Considering how useful I found this presentation to be, I wish that it occurred more than once. Perhaps it could occur two times with different approaches. The first time, the members can be free and explore any sound effects they think of together. The next time it could be with guidelines. For examples, the possibilities of different timbres or grains if the vibraphone motor is involved. Additionally, after learning about the different qualities of sound, such as Schaeffer’s six different categories of harmonicity, or the different types of grain, different types of formants, perhaps the ensemble could be asked to generate sounds based on different qualities outlined on a guideline.

Another thing that could be interesting within the framework of this seminar is incorporation of presentations on solo pieces by the members of the ensemble at the beginning of the year when they do individual showcase of their instruments. It would be interesting if each performer, while showcasing their instrument also presented on a solo piece from the contemporary repertoire that they have performed. They can talk about what they found intriguing in these pieces in regards to timbre, or something interesting that the piece asked for that they had not done before playing that piece. They could also talk about practicality of the techniques they present from these pieces.

Since this was a process in which the composers had to discover various ways of blend within the given ensemble, it was quite convenient to have the ensemble in the room with us every week to experiment and get immediate feedback. This process help reassure or reject some ideas I initially had about how to approach writing for this specific ensemble. This was not only the case when I was the one experimenting with the ensemble, but also while I was watching other composers experiment with the ensemble. The aspect of positive immediate feedback was present in the exploration phase as well as the troubleshooting phase. This aspect gave me the courage to take a leap of faith and risk writing things that I might not have written if I did not have the chance to hear them live and get immediate feedback. A good example of that was writing very high and fast flutter tongues for the bass clarinet. These phases also sparked conversations with the ensemble members, the conductor, and the composers on how to create a certain blending sound a composer might have had in mind. An example of this is when I discussed the blend of the timbre of the vibraphone with the rest of the ensemble in one of my troubleshooting sessions. I had initially written “blend with the rest of the ensemble” in the vibraphone part. During the session we discovered within that specific context if the percussionist played on the part of the bar that is directly above the string, it creates a much better blending effect. Due to these periods’ fruitfulness, I think it would be very beneficial if both these phases are slightly extended. Perhaps each composer can get one additional session within each of these phases.

The last aspect of the troubleshooting period that could be improved is if the performers are encouraged to be more direct and assertive with their feedback. If performers think something in their part is impractical or if there is a much easier way to create a similar sound effect, it would be helpful if they can be assertive with the composers and express their feedback with no hesitance. This could also be true if some of the details written in their parts are not perceptible. It might be a little difficult to hear some of these details while the whole ensemble is playing at the same time. However, if they have noticed something during their individual practice session, the performers should be direct with their feedback.

In one of the sections in my violin part, I had written a double stop harmonic while one of the tones was also trilling. This was coupled with a tremolo bowing. Later I learned that the sound would not be perceived any differently in that context if the tremolo bowing was taken away. This would be very difficult to hear in the loud and fast-moving context of the piece while all the ensemble members are playing together. However, after Jeanne’s observation of this phenomena during her individual practice session, she immediately notified me of it outside of classroom time. I found this helpful on two different levels. I was able to hear the difference between just doing a tremolo bowing and just trilling and decide which one I was interested in more before our next class meeting. This gave me the opportunity to edit my score before the next class meeting as well as having that knowledge while I added more to my writing.

Lastly, it was immensely helpful to have access to the recordings of every session. This gave me the ability to go back and listen to the conversations that were exchanged throughout each session as well as being able to listen to the recordings to be reminded of the exact sounds and textures that were explored. This was especially helpful when I wanted to add to my writing, and I needed to reference what I had done up to that point. One thing that could be improved about this aspect of the seminar is if the recordings were posted on my courses with a shorter delay time. Sometimes I had to refer to my memory to keep writing before the recordings became available. On one rare occasion, I almost spent my whole composition time frame before the next session referring to my memory to keep writing. Other composers might not have had any issues with the delay. However, if a composer is a slow writer like me, and they also happen to be working on finishing their thesis, this will be very helpful to them.

In conclusion, I found my experience in this seminar invaluable as I learned a lot about new theories as well as new instrumental techniques and orchestration approaches. Although this seminar might not have changed the way I listen to music, it definitely changed my approach to orchestration. I was forced to consider orchestration options and solutions I might not have considered before. An example of this would be creating a blending texture by using a vibraphone and a trombone. Due to this aspect, now I am aware of possibilities that I previously didn’t know could be an option.