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NIME 2005 - May 26-28
The 2005 International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Concert Program - School of Music, Recital Hall
THURSDAY, 19:30-21:30: OPENING Concert [full program]
Posthorn
Ben Neill, Bill Jones, composer/performers
10 minutes
Posthorn is a live performance piece for my self-designed mutantrumpet/electronics system. The work is titled after and based on the "Posthorn solo", a section of the third movement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3, originally composed in 1898.
In Posthorn three computer programs respond to my playing in real time. The pitches and dynamics of my acoustic performance are translated into MIDI information, then sent to all three programs simultaneously. The first program enables me to trigger and modify the playback of MIDI sequences from the mutantrumpet. The output of the program triggers a sample of the orchestral chord which immediately precedes the entrance of the Posthorn solo in the original symphony. As the piece progresses the sample is modified in pitch, duration and density by the dynamic and pitch content of my acoustic playing as well as the mutantrumpet1s on-board MIDI controllers. The second software is a live sampling program which enables me to grab samples and modify them in real time with the same set of controllers. In Posthorn I live sample my own playing as well as the samples of the symphony that are being triggered. I also recall samples of other performances of the piece and combine them with the material that is evolving in real time. The third program runs on a second computer and translates the MIDI data from the mutantrumpet into real time video control. The MIDI input manipulates live digital video samples of 19th century landscape paintings and live action footage of pastoral landscapes.
While the basic shape of Posthorn is fixed according to the melodic
structure of the Mahler piece, its details are improvised, depending on
how I unfold the melodic material and the dynamics with which I play.
My decisions are influenced by feedback from the system, which guides
the work into unforeseen areas each time it is performed.
-- Ben Neill