2012- | 18'
contrabass clarinet, amplification
14 microfones, 14 speakers

Literal Amplification

The shape confuses your perception. In a wood-wind instrument the sound is not projected through the bell but mainly out of the first open orifice. These etudes set to explore the air distribution patterns within the tube of a wood-wind instrument. The setup is transparent: a microphone is attached to each opening of the instrument and connected to one loudspeaker. The speakers are arranged following the topology of the instrument: each speaker reproduces one hole.
Movement of air inside the tube is projected without any manipulation to the performance space. The instrument has been turned inside-out. Fingerings determine the trajectories. Spatial paths are the building blocks of the composition: they define the fingerings. Music is a side-effect.

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Study #3: Grenzgang

A wood-wind instrument can play over an extended range thanks to overtones. Each instrument has a “break”, which is the note at which the instrument jumps to a higher overtone, switching from all holes open to all holes closed. Wind players learn to hide the “break”, the instruments have special keys to avoid it. This etude makes the “break” audible: when the instrument is totally open, air comes out of the first hole (the leftmost loudspeaker); when the instrument is fully closed, air comes out of the bell (the rightmost loudspeaker). The pitch distance is minimal: between these two notes there is only a semitone. Yet in space they are as far appart as they can be.
Hörch/LIsten Festival, Akademie Schloss Solitude  | Andrea Nagy, contrabass clarinet
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Setup

The recording took place at the Hirschgang of the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, which is a very long and resonant gallery, much resembling a tube from a musical instrument.