this is the digital webpage & text-based score for my piece for electric guitar & optional electronics, static, to be performed by jacob elibol & sd hopeton
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i am currently working on a staff-based score that will be published here at the latest in May 2023, along with the other solo pieces in that collection- but in the meantime, i believe this webpage will serve as a fully functional score.
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electronics are optional. if you choose to not use the fixed media accompaniment, i ask that you play rubato, and play the root of the drone you’re currently within with some frequency i.e. if you’re improvising in F# Raga Dhavalshri for 2 minutes instead of 30 seconds, that’s fine, but make sure you play a low F# at least a few times during so.
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additionally, if you play this piece as solo guitar, try to separate your “static” playing from your improvisational playing. I would reccomend listening to the fixed media track beforehand, and trying to alternate between emulating that and improvising yourself.
the fixed media piece will be attached here, and the staff/traditional notation score, as well as all of the code from SuperCollider, will be available here (hopefully before but at the latest) May 2023. Any recorded versions of this, including the eventual “studio” version will also be available here as well. the fixed media track attached now was edited some in-DAW, and so also by May 2023, there will be both the DAW-assisted fixed media, and a SuperCollider-only format of performing this piece.
this piece is dedicated to Jacob Elibol and was composed with him in mind. Jacob has a really interesting way of thinking about music, specifically with reference to scales, and this project was made with the purpose of giving him an avenue to play in that way. This piece also couldn’t have been created without ianring.com ; an incredible resource that i’ve used in so many more pieces than just this.
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for any electronics performer assisting the guitarist, or for a guitarist that has interest in pedals or audio processing: put long, barely audible reverbs on the guitarist, as many as possible. if you are able, fade out the reverbs before 6:36, if not, hard turn off reverbs at 6:37. – if you are an electronics performer who is interested, also consider putting quiet granular manipulations or modulated/interesting delays on the signal of the guitarist, making sure to modulate the volume of those affected signals (in a bus) alongside the dynamic changes of the guitarist. I.e. make the processing very very quiet for most of the piece, and as the guitarist improvises their own dynamic styles, match that, and crescendo with the guitarist, however, always keep the wet signal quieter than the guitarist’s dry signal. if you aren’t into manipulating audio signals, mess around with white noise incredibly quietly and follow the same instructions as the guitarist.
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another note for the guitarist : don’t feel obligated to change it constantly, but i encourage you to use every possible parameter of change on your guitar as possible. play around with the tone and volume knobs. if you’d like, feel free to detune strings mid performance, and, if you would like to play different scales, go for it- but make it a conscience, pre-written decision, and maybe ask Jacob what he thinks about it first. lol
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i hope you enjoy…
static :: for electric guitar & electronics
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Measures at 70 BPM ; Scale / General Instruction / Time
1 – B Raga Yamuna Kalyani 0:00. . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
7 – G# Phracrimic 0:20. . . . . . . G# B C# D E F#
13 – G# Raga Suddha Bangala 0:41 . . . . . . G# A# B C# D# E#
17 – F# Zeracrimic 0:54 . . . . . . F# G# A# C# D# E
25 – Dx Phradian 1:22 . . . . . . Dx (E) E# F# G# A# B C#
33 – F# Raga Dhavalshri 1:49 . . . . . . F# A# B# C# D#
41 – A# Raga Vijayanagari 2:17 . . . . . . A# B# C Dx (E) E# G
49 – Dx Phradian 2:44. . . . . . . Dx (E) E# F# G# A# B C#
61 – B Raga Yamuna Kalyani 3:25. . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
65 – A# Raga Vijayanagari 3:39 . . . . . . A# B# C Dx (E) E# G
69 – G# Raga Suddha Bangala 3:53. . . . . . . G# A# B C# D# E#
73 – B Raga Yamuna Kalyani 4:06. . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
77 – Free Improvisation 4:20
97 – B Raga Yamuna Kalyani 5:29. . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
103 – G# Phracrimic 5:50. . . . . . . G# B C# D E F#
110 – G# Raga Suddha Bangala 6:13. . . . . . . G# A# B C# D# E#
117 – B Raga Yamuna Kalyani 6:37. . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
123 – Silence 7:00
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another player attached below so you can read everything while looking at bandcamp play-time timer
Times, Scales, & Dynamics/Articulation Notes:
0:00 B Raga Yamuna Kalyani – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
– Play sparsely & simply as if you’re in slow motion
0:20 G# Phracrimic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G# B C# D E F#
– Sustain long(er) notes. Again, sparely & simply, naturally
0:41 G# Raga Suddha Bangala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G# A# B C# D# E#
– Play no more than 3 transient sounds
0:54 F# Zeracrimic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F# G# A# C# D# E
– Rest
1:00 – still F# Zeracrimic. but for the next 3 minutes, decide as a performer what articulation, feeling, & dynamic range fits best with each new scale
1:22 Dx Phradian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dx (E) E# F# G# A# B C#
1:49 F# Raga Dhavalshri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F# A# B# C# D#
2:17 A# Raga Vijayanagari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A# B# C Dx (E) E# G
2:44 Dx Phradian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dx (E) E# F# G# A# B C#
– with these upcoming repeating scales, feel free to explore a new feeling / playing style at each iteration, or continue with your predetermined plan, it is up to you
3:25 B Raga Yamuna Kalyani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
3:39 A# Raga Vijayanagari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A# B# C Dx (E) E# G
3:53 G# Raga Suddha Bangala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G# A# B C# D# E#
4:06 B Raga Yamuna Kalyani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
4:20 – Pause briefly. And spend the next minute and 10 seconds (from 4:20 – 5:29) exploring your instrument. Try to produce a sound you have never before produced. This could be for example, fast tapping on the pickups, placing an object on your strings, etc. Get creative and don’t worry about this section. Do not perform this section the same way twice, and, feel free to play notes within B Raga Yamuna Kalyani or any other key. This is time to improvise- freely in terms of note, but not fully free.
5:29 – B Raga Yamuna Kalyani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
– As we return to the initial phrase, play with dramatic intensity.
5:50 G# Phracrimic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G# B C# D E F#
– Crescendo here, again, dramatic intensity.
6:13 – G# Raga Suddha Bangala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G# A# B C# D# E#
– Rest for a moment, then, play as softly as possible
6:37 B Raga Yamuna Kalyani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B C# D# E# F# G#
– play quietly, softly, yet consistently, emulate the fixed media track’s static
7:00 – Stop all sound
– Remain still for the next 45 seconds. Don’t touch your guitar. Let us hear the sound of its silence. If you’re performing to an audience, keep your head down during this section. If the audience applauds, remain still. Count to 45. Then either end the recording or bow. But before you finish, let us here your static, as close to silent as it can get.
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