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A Walk Through Harlem: Process and Performance introduction -- concept/preparation -- syllabus-- instruments --process/performance After spending a couple weeks playing with and refining these instruments, Shameena, Igor, Leila, David, LaVerne Sheu, and Tania Papayannopoulou (both of whom were invaluable contributors to the project, from the Columbia Teachers College; I was unfortunately ill that day) went for a walk through Harlem with a recorder and recorded many sounds that they heard or could make -- sounds they mostly hadn't noticed before. They returned to the Computer Music Center, listened to the sounds, and had a discussion about them (which was also recorded). We then asked them to come back the next week with some kind of writing about the walk and the sounds. At this point, the prospect of a trip to Greece to perform was looming, and we had to figure something out. Unfortunately, for passport reasons, Igor was not able to go to Greece, so we decided to center the piece around his poem (which was wonderful!) so his contribution would be present. We spent the next two weeks working with the kids on composing parts for the instruments in order to "set" Igor's poem to music. Igor composed a part for Shameena to play on the Shaker-Pulser, one which tried to use the instrument to support the rhythm and images of the text. Here are Shameena's and Igor's notes on her part:
Leila analyzed the rhythms of Igor's poem, and came up with logical places to change chords (of a simple 12-bar Blues progression) with the Voice-Chorder. Leila and Shameena then put their parts together, making adjustments so they would work well, and practiced. Many times. Here's Leila's "part" (lines under particular words indicate where she changes chords):
Next, we took their favorite sounds from the walk and asked them to describe them, which they did in typical colorful style. These sounds were integrated into the Finger Mixer. They developed a section of the piece where Shameena would read their descriptions of the sounds while Leila would mix them in, in various combinations. Simultaneously, the Finger Mixer would control the images projected on David's rotating cube; these images were taken during the walk and provide a visual reference for the audience. We discussed various ways that these elements could be combined to make a piece they could perform, and came up with the following form:
This turned out to be quite ambitious, but the kids were up to it. After trying this once or twice, very roughly, we were off to Greece and to the Summit, where we were scheduled for three long, intense rehearsals. We needed all of them, but, in the end, Leila and Shameena performed incredibly well. What was most satisfying was how engaged they were by something that was actually *difficult*. By the end, they were begging us to "play it one more time," and asking us to have mroe rehearsals the day after returning to New York (boy, did they have more energy than we did at that point!).They would show up to rehearsal with ideas from the previous rehearsals, and clearly had spent some time discussing it away from rehearsal. A transformative moment came in the dress rehearsal, the afternoon of the performance, where they took matters completely in to their own hands, making suggestions to one another, stopping the piece to try and perfect certain moments. David and I just sat back and watched. They were making chamber music, a new kind of chamber music, with new instruments. They were *discovering* this music, and finding out how rewarding it can be. So, as it turned out, we weren't doomed, and the stirring resulted in a wonderful meal. To get a clearer idea of the piece, here is an mp3 of the entire piece, and four video clips from the performance in Greece: clip 1, clip 2, clip 3, clip 4. Images from the performance in Greece:
Leila and Dan (left): David and Shameena (right)
the full stage setup, with looming cube introduction -- concept/preparation -- syllabus-- instruments --process/performance
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