Test Pattern Number One
for 4 alto singers, 4 baritone singers, 4 electric guitars, bass, and African percussion
SOUND CLIPS COMING SOON!
First heard on the [ontologist] solo EP release Test Patterns, in August 2005. This performance by friends at the Student Composer Concert in Regenstein MCR on Northwestern University, May 27, 2007.
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Lyrics:
She's a simple melody/Such a perfect, precious thing/Wouldn't know what to do/Guess I don't know what to do
He is rhythm manifest/Sometimes plastic, sometimes clay/Wouldn't know what to do/Guess I don't know what to do
(From the program notes of the 2007 concert):
Test Pattern No. 1 (2005) was my first true experiment with solely minimalist and popular elements. Melodic repetition, form, and pan-diatonicism were some of the ideas that I borrowed from classical minimalism, while groove/style, instrumentation, and rhythmic features were taken from popular musics. Interestingly, the combination sounds like neither, taking a shape and form all its own. Since these piece, my personal compositional style has moved more toward a true classical-popular hybrid. While I have not reached it (and it may not be possible after all), the effects are spellbinding in their own right, and that magic in itself is reason to continue on this quest.
