‘Shadows’ from Discourses of COVID.
‘SHADOWS’ from ‘Discourses of COVID’ for solo trombone, interactive electronics & spoken word. Commissioned by Edge Radio during the first UK Covid lockdown, ‘Shadows’ is an audiovisual performance art work that examines our cultural response to the global pandemic.
All sounds and textures are created using my design of an electronic plunger mute and sensor system for trombone, controlled via my dedicated Max patcher.
Discourse III #MrSpeaker
#MrSpeaker is based on the voice of House Of Commons Speaker John Bercow, amidst the chaos of the UK Parliament during the now infamous Brexit debates. Voice samples of Bercow and other Politicians are controlled via the amplitude, articulation and expression of the trombone as picked up by the ePlunger mute. All sounds are produced by the trombone. There are no external instruments or synthesizers. Effects and textures are processed live using the visual programming language Max/MSP, controlled by the bespoke eBone augmentation system: ePlunger mute, eSlide sensor, eMouthpiece Controller. The ePlunger is a 3D printed, electronic plunger mute with six 3D printed plastic capacitive touch sensors (using the electrical charge from the skin on your fingers). These have been connected and programmed on the ATmega32u1 Bluetooth development board. Using the midi protocol, they are mapped to patches in MAX and control the activation of all DSP (Digital Signal Processing) events, e.g. variable slapback delay, Granular synthesis and voice sample control. An accelerometer in the ePlunger changes the pitch of Bercow’s voice when the mute is moved or waved around. The volume and triggering of the samples react to everything the trombone plays – creating a virtual dialogue between the trombone and voices. The eSlide infrared sensor controls random granular syntheses parameters over a 30 cm range of slide movement. This is switched on and off (via 6 presets), by the ePlunger capacitive touch sensors.
Composed by Tony Boorer T
rombone: Tony Boorer
MAX/MSP coding by Tony Boorer (based on a patch by V.J.Manzo)
‘Phases’
‘Trombone Phases’ incorporates my electronic plunger mute and sensor system. It is based on Terry Riley’s concept of sound on sound looping and his idea of ‘Time Lag Accumulation.’ Dorian Reeds (1965) performed by the composer on Saxophone is an example of his technique in action. It also attempts to blend this with a similar effect as Steve Reich’s ‘phasing’ technique (hence the title), albeit in a digital space using two supplemental delays. Rather than offset delays by time, they are offset by samples using random sample delays before looping back through the system.
The eBone Project 