May 5, 2009

Density Glasgow

I submitted “I AM YOUR DENSITY” to an open call for works for the Red Note ensemble, and it was one of the chosen pieces. I asked my ‘usuals’, and Angie, Anton, Ramsey, and Holly all agreed to take part, and make the drive up with me (Anton actually did the driving).

The performance was to take place at The Arches. I’ve only driven through Glasgow before, so I had no idea what the place was like. As it turns out the venue is massive! The performance took place in one of the many ‘arches’ underneath the train station. You could hear/feel the trains passing overhead every so often. On top of that, we actually had a dressing room and everything.
Getting down to the dressing room (Dressing Room B) was an experience in and of itself as The Arches was hosting some kind of interactive event in all the corridors downstairs. We took a huge freight elevator down, which opened into a nearly pitch black storage area. We followed this down a few pitch black corridors while some kind of spooky soundtrack-esque music played throughout the building. Had I been alone, I would have been VERY frightened.

DENSITY was going to be performed by the Red Note ensemble, which on this night comprised of supremely talented Flute, Trumpet, and Cello. They were joined by another Flute and Trumpet, Electric Guitar, Circuit-Bent Drum Machine, and Namasitar. We had one hour rehearsal time before the performance, which turned out being plenty. I adapted the piece slightly for the performance by leaving out the last page altogether. This, combined with the fact that the group I brought with me all had some prior DENSITY experience, made for a fast learning curve.

The performance itself came out amazingly. I stood at the front to issue cues in case we got lost, but I never needed give cues beyond the ones the piece actually requires. It was a pleasure hearing a primarily acoustic rendition of the piece, as the previous performance, and subsequent studio recording both leaned heavily towards the electronic side of things.

Here are some photos and a video of the performance: