Out of Hand

Out of Hand, for trumpet, trombone, and computer, was written for Michael Tunnell and Brett Shuster. The computer plays a hybrid role, exploring the continuum between fixed-media accompaniment and improvised responses based on real-time analysis of the live performance. The musicians play together throughout several contrasting scenes, sometimes taking diverse positions on the underlying material, other times trading the same isolated fragments. In the final third of the piece, the two play in unison rhythm — with the computer extending their sound by harmonization — as they dodge an algorithmically-generated funk bass line.