Standing Waves: an Experiment in Sound

On May 5th, 2005, Ryan Jesperson, Phil Salathé, Richard Johnson, and Neeraj Mehta performed Standing Waves: An Experiment in Sound at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT.  The success of the project has inspired the composer/performers to continue exploring this path of musical composition, and subsequent performances and new works are possible.

Duration: Approx. 30 min.

To listen to Standing Waves, select it from the player on the left.

Program Notes:

Standing Waves is an experiment in combining compositional techniques in an improvisational setting.  It is comprised of two competing groups, the electronics and percussion versus all other instruments.  For the electronics and percussion group, the piece is divided into three sections of ten minutes each.  Each section is created using the mirror image outline of The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai.  The other pitched instruments divide the piece into four sections of seven and a half minutes each.  In the first section one keyboard instrument plays an arpeggiated chord progression while the other instruments interject a melody and counter melody.  In the second section the instruments play a series of long-tone cells derived from the chord progression.  The third section is a series of fast-note cells derived from the chord progression.  The fourth section is a group improvisation where the performers choose cells of both long and short duration.  In addition to the 3:4 structural polyrhythm between the first and second groups, there is also a third division of the piece into five sections of six minutes each.  At each of these sections the two groups come together.

Standing Waves: An Experiment in Sound was premiered by Ryan Jesperson, Phil Salathe, Richard Johnson, Neeraj Mehta, and the rest of Dr. Macbride's "Music since 1950" class at the University of Hartford.  May 5th, 2005.