JuncTions Essl

8/17/2019 JuncTions Essl

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Karlheinz Essl

juncTions

for grand piano (two players) and live-electronics

2011/2012

Commissioned by the keyboard collective junctQín (TorontFunded by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation

© 2012 by Karlheinz Esslwww.essl.at


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Karlheinz Essl

juncTions

for grand piano (two players) & live-electronics2011/2012

Requirements

• a grand piano with 3 pedals (Steinway D or Yamaha C7 )

• an E-Bow (see: http://www.ebow.com)

• two malletts with rubber head

• a drum stick

• a tonebar (Dunlop Ergo Tonebar )

• Apple computer (recommended: MacBook or MacBook Pro)

• an audio interface with two mic preamps and 4 output channels (recommended: Edirol FA-66 )

• two sensitive and high-quality cardiod microphones (recommended: Neumann KM 184 or RØDE NT5 )

• a USB MIDI controller (recommended: KORG nanoKontrol )

• quadrophonic PA system (4 active speakers like RCF ART300 on stands)

Setup

A grand piano with open lid. Player I is standing besides the instrument, playing its inner parts. Player II is sitting on a piano bench, performing on the keys andexecuting the pedals. The third player, who operates the electronics is sitting close to the piano on a small table (equipped with an Apple laptop and a small MIDIcontroller), having eye contact with the other players.

Two loudspeakers on stands are positioned on the stage left and right of the piano, building a line with the edge of the keyboard. The other two loudspeakers arestanding behind the audience. Ideally, the four loudspeakers would form a perfect square in order to obtain the required immersive sound environment that thecomputer is creating in realtime, only using the live input of the piano.


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Notation symbols

Ped. sustain pedal

SP sostenuto pedal

B, D positions on the piano string: towards the bridge / close to the dampers

B –––––––––!D continuos movement from bridge to damper position

" –––––––––!#

continuos transition from muted to unmuted

slowly depressing and lifting of the pedal

depress key silently

pluck the strings with fingernails or a plectron


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use hand inside the piano (for muting or striking the strings)

transversal scratch along the string

play an extended trill by randomly permutating the given notes (ms. 73 ff.)

Electronics

1) Connect an audio interface and the USB MIDI controller to your Apple computer.

2) Plug the two condenser microphones into the two preamp channels of the audio interface and mount them on microphone stands. Now position the mics thatone is capturing the low range of the piano, and the other the mid and high region. Carefully set the input level of the microphones on the preamps of your audiointerface.

3) Start the juncTion program on an Apple computer. Choose "Audio..." from the "Settings" menu and select your input and your output devices. Afterward, switch„Audio“ to „On“.

4) The input level of the microphones (which are sent into the computer program) is notated a black curve in the IN field below the staff of Player II. The outputlevel is another line drawn into the OUT field. Both levels are controlled by two faders of a small MIDI controller.

5) Numbers in boxes refer to certain presets which start a pre-determined processing of the sound. Press the space bar on the computer keyboard in order toswitch to the next preset.

6) When hitting the key on the computer keyboard, the next page of the score is displayed.


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JuncTions Essl

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Transcript of JuncTions Essl