Falling from Cloudless Skies incorporates processed and synthesized sounds of ice –– creaking ripping, tearing sounds to mimic the ice –– flaw leads, water and underwater sounds. Electronic and ecological sounds are paired with the orchestra, both as an instrument in the orchestra, and also juxtaposed, as if in competition with the acoustic instruments. The ultimate goal is to place the musicians into an environment that is not normal; an abstraction of an all too familiar concept amongst scientists dealing with global warming. I’ll use the example of the polar bear that must attack the walrus, a prey that is too large, because it has no alternative. I began this new work by capturing (recording) sounds in the field, including the use of hydrophones for underwater sounds. Electronic sounds, other than the environmental sounds collected at the source include cracking, breaking, rubbing, tearing, ripping and crashing kinds of sounds that were created using mostly frozen ice, cardboard, plastic, creaking doors and velcro. Chunks of ice were created in my freezer and then smashed and cracked. I edited the sounds in my home studio using a combination of Max/MSP/Jitter, Pro Tools and Digital Performer. The orchestra score was then created in tandem with the electronic materials.
"A six-pound chunk of ice fell from the sky. The source of the ice wasn't immediately known. The increase of these extreme atmospheric events, incidents involving megacryometeors, balls of ice that fall out of the clear blue sky – possibly due to global warming – could be a new type of fingerprint of Climate Change."
Megacryometeors, a term coined by Dr. Jesus Martinez-Frias, is derived from "mega" which means big, "cryo" for ice and "meteor," the debris that streak through the atmosphere. A note I received via email from Dr. Martinez-Frias corrects an earlier statement which read, "the extraterrestrial debris that streak through the atmosphere."
"The ice is not extraterrestrial; it clearly comes (and was formed) from our Earth's atmosphere (more specifically in the troposphere). This is unequivocally confirmed by its isotopic composition."
You can read a scientific paper which was published in the prestigious Journal of Environmental Monitoring here. For more information please visit http://tierra.rediris.es/megacryometeors/index2.html
Technology merges with the acoustic – is it natural? The start of this work sees one minute of soundscape; crashing, cracking, ripping, tearing and broken sounds. The ice is forming in the sky. A long development ensues and a rhythmic counterpoint plays out between a darabuka and pizzicato strings. Rhythm is altered between 3/4 and 6/8: the darabuka often transitioning to cycles of 7 and 5. Woodwind instruments interject along wth electronic sounds. A contrabassoon solo eventually ensues in its lowest register – out of place – our polar bear. Descending chromaticism follows, the ice is falling perhaps. Oboes enter, staccato, in major and minor seconds in the lowest register, a raw sound. Eventually the section builds until we get the first major climax of the work. Following this the lowest B-flat enters in the piano and bass instruments. Text is recited, "A six-pound chunk of ice fell from the sky. The source of the ice wasn't immediately known. The increase of these extreme atmospheric events, incidents involving megacryometeors, balls of ice that fall out of the clear blue sky - possibly due to global warming - could be a new type of fingerprint of Climate Change. A term coined from “mega,” which means “big,” “cryo” for “ice” and “meteor,” the extraterrestrial debris that streak through the atmosphere." The strings go a bit mad, quarter tones, harmonic glissandos and grinding sounds accompany a woodwind osstinato. Eventually this leads to a third and final section. Rhythm, harmony and melody becomes more regular, alternating between 3/4 and 2/4. At points we hear the sounds of dogs, ravens. A synthesized choir accompanies near the end, as the darabuka returns with its 7 and 5 pairings until the very end.
Commissioned by: Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Canada Council for the Arts