Harmonic Glissandos

Harmonic Glissandos

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Scoring & Instrumentation
Fixed Media
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Year Authored (or revised)
Duration (min)
9
Movements

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Audio

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Description

Composer's Note:

Most tones that we hear in music consist of a series of harmonic partials that are perceived as the timbre. When only a limited number of partials are present, we may hear them individually, and the fundamental will not sound until several of them are present. All notes in this work are articulated by a certain number of harmonic partials, the first group of which indicates the harmony of the immediate context. In some passages, however, only a few partials are stated, and the fundamental does not appear until the tone has sounded for several seconds, and it is often fleeting. Once the fundamentals begin to be better established, the pitch begins to become unsteady.

The pitch unsteadiness unfolds into wavering glissandos, which increase in speed and amount as the piece progresses into the middle section. At that point, individually attacked harmonics begin to take over the music, and the glissando process continues. A climax is reached just past the midpoint of the piece, after which the glissandos begin to wane and ultimately recede to zero. Towards the end of the piece, when there are more harmonics used to state the pitches, the harmonics create more of an impression of changing timbres than pitch uncertainty. The piece was composed in 2022 and synthesized by the Csound program.

Comments

Available in stereo, quadraphonic, and octophonic configurations.

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Recording

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Text Language - Non English

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Title Number
Ensemble Type
solo audio or video fixed media
Genre/Theme
Audio fixed media
Instrument
tape (audio) fixed media
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