By Michael Bratt
Thanks for everybody who came to see us at the Berea Arts Fest. I personally thought it went very well and a good time was had by all.
Those who came to the concert may have noticed that a good portion of our program consisted of sound collages or improvisatory pieces. Typically, these pieces ask the players to make decisions based on set parameters determined by the composer. I have always felt a little perplexed as to why someone would want to write in this manner. After all, one of the things I enjoy most about being a composer is making decisions. Giving up that control to the musicians means I would have to give up one of the things I like best about writing.
This lesson was instilled in me many years ago. I brought in something I was working on to my private lesson that involved multiple pulses, simultaneously sounding. The score at the time had general tempo markings and the players were to interpret what they thought the tempo was. My teacher at the time informed me that this would sound “like garbage.” I believe his exact words were – “that anytime you give players the right to make a decision, they will always, without fail, make the most banal, mindless choice.”
It has also been my experience, that players do not enjoy doing it. One of the pieces on the concert (one of the better pieces IMHO), was Emergent Behaviors by Jeremy Allen. There were rumblings from certain members in the orchestra regarding this. What seems interesting to me is that great performers love making artistic decisions where they are comfortable doing so. It seems that when you force them to make a decision, that’s when problems arise.
One of my favorite musicians to work with is Jeffrey Myers (the original Tuba player of FiveOne). When I wrote for him, we would have lots of conversations about the relationship between composer and performer. One thing that he said stuck with me – “I am sick and tired of having to decide whether or not we like a piece. Who cares? Let’s find a piece, it doesn’t even have to be the world’s best piece, and play the crap out of it.”
And that attitude becomes a necessity to pull off these noise collages. In a way, it cannot be taught.
These noise jams are becoming more a part of who we are and to make a long post short, I am growing fond of them. I think the best thing that we played yesterday was the final improvisation. There is an attitude and behavior that existed there because the players were not making the most banal, mindless decisions.
Of course that is just my opinion, feel free to disagree.
