CONCEPT FOR NEW WORK FOR THIRD COAST PERCUSSION



working title: chimera consort

My recent work has been focused on the creation of electro-acoustic meta-instruments—acoustic instruments that in combination with electronics become something larger than itself. For my Third Coast commissioned work I propose the combination of instruments and specific behaviors to create the illusion of new hybrid bodies (like meta-instruments), but without the use of electronics.
Each group in this system is conceived as auditory "chimera". The idea is inspired by the Chimaeras of Greek mythology (a beast with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail) and by the usage of the term in Auditory Scene Analysis (1990)—a psychoacoustics text by Albert Bregman.

The narrative of the work follows the interaction between different chimeric groups: they are played against and over each other, and also attempt to absorb each other’s traits to *become* one another—chimeras and meta-chimeras cycling throughout!


The Chimera of Arezzo; Etruscan bronze, ca. 400 BC     (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence)
The Chimera of Arezzo; Etruscan bronze, ca. 400 BC
(Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence)


audio example (sketch):

Chimera 1 (drums/skins) appears mid-way through, with traits absorbed from Chimera 2 (the opening pitch-bending music). Vibraphone motif in background connecting both groups.
(recorded by Kyle Flens/Igor Santos + some internet samples)








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