BREAKDOWN RAG SOLO PIANO
Breakdown Rag is an homage to Scott Joplin, a musical tribute to recognize his amazing contributions to the world of music. The work follows a strict rag form for the first half, with strong and metrically accented bass figures underlying syncopated melodies; in the second half, however, the degradation of Joplin’s health begins to reveal itself as the “rules” of rag begin to break. Tempo begins to fluctuate, and once catchy melodies begin to become serialized and dissonant. Finally, the piece ends as Joplin’s life does - an accelerated descent into insanity, with the ending arriving unexpectedly early.
(ELSEWHERE) SOLO VOICE
(Elsewhere), for solo voice and player-less piano, is a short song written from the following text:
For a moment there,
I saw an ounce of promise in you.
But you weren't strong enough
to follow through on that.
I just hope, for your sake,
that you one day find it again;
That you manage to brush away
the rubble in your head
and find a way
to love, and be loved.
It's something you've been without for far too long.
For a moment there,
I saw an ounce of promise in you.
But you weren't strong enough
to follow through on that.
I just hope, for your sake,
that you one day find it again;
That you manage to brush away
the rubble in your head
and find a way
to love, and be loved.
It's something you've been without for far too long.
SEPIA RAINBOW, TECHNICOLOR WORLD SOLO VIBRAPHONE
Sepia Rainbow, Technicolor World is a cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for solo vibraphone, commissioned by Kayla Liptak in honor of her close childhood friend, who passed away from Lupus. With each repetition, the accompaniment diminishes both harmonically and rhythmically, while the beautiful and memorable melody remains unchanged, just as when one passes away, their memory stays with us.
UNKNOWN CONVERSATIONS SOLO VIOLIN
Unknown Conversations, a solo piece for violin, explores differences in timbre and dynamics on the violin in a dramatic and romantic fashion. Throughout the work, the “conversation” grows into an intense and frantic nature over the course of the piece until it reaches a climax, where it then proceeds to return to its original statement.
THREE MINUTES SOLO PERCUSSION
Three Minutes is based upon statistics given for different occurrences which take place every sixty seconds. These statistics were divided into three sections: nature, humanity, and industry. Each of these three sections were then elaborated into ten minutes of performance art. Thus, the entire thirty minute performance of this piece would truly be representing one minute of time within the statistical parameters. This piece was commissioned by Aaron Levy for the 2016 Cicada Consort marathon charity concert, hosted by the University of Alabama.
YOU/I Vibraphone, VIOLONCELLO, fixed media
You/I aims to explore individualism and unification as a spectrum, with the cello and vibraphone working with and against each other as well as the fixed media created from robotic pronunciations of four words: "you," "human," "unified," and "I."
VESICA FLUTE AND VIOLONCELLO
Vesica was inspired by the Vesica Pisces, a sacred geometrical figure commonly seen in Venn diagrams showing where two become one. Vesica sonically represents this phenomena, with the flute and cello creating a duet of two cyclical forces fluctuating between individuality and unity.
NOTHING TO SEE/HEAR PERCUSSION DUET/QUARTET
Nothing to See/Hear is a sound meditation piece focusing on the seemingly infinite tonal intricacies within players performing sounding octaves. By asking performers to play "until you no longer hear the notes themselves", NtS/H seeks to reveal to the performers and their audience how much can truly be controlled in performance.
MESSIER 67 ORCHESTRA/WIND ENSEMBLE
Messier 67, named after a nearby star system studied for stellar evolution, is a fanfare reminiscent of Holst's planets featuring a strong percussion and brass section.
FIVES WOODWIND QUINTET
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Fives, for woodwind quintet, explores the various different relationships found in a pentagram, many of which are also explored in the graphic on the front cover of the score for the work:
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WELCOME PERCUSSION TRIO
Welcome is based upon Metatron’s Cube, a sacred geometrical figure said to contain the blueprint for all that exists in the universe. All platonic solids, studied for their mathematical beauty and symmetry and theorized by Plato to exist in all the classical elements, exist within the cube. If everything shares a part of this cube as a commonality, rejection does not naturally exist.
APOTROPE FOUND SOUNDS, FIXED MEDIA, AND LIVE ELECTRONICS
Apotrope, created in collaboration with composer/performer Alex Lough, asks the performer to perform on found sounds while equipped with a gyroscopic sensor, which affects live processing of the found sounds as the performer moves their hands. Created with imagery of the Hamsa Hand, a symbol used to keep evil forces at bay, Apotrope represents the persistent struggle to keep away from the evil in the world.
INTERNAL STEREO
Internal takes advantage of modern technology to sonify the human body. From brainwaves and heartbeats to blood type, Internal aims to experience a new perspective into the finely-tuned instrument that is the human body by utilizing biofeedback devices and a pre-performance survey to generate layers of sound.
FREIHEIT STEREO
Freiheit is a work for fixed media exploring our modern relationship with social media in the face of hardship, and how we as humans react to such trying times. This work combines a piano rendition of the German folksong "Die Gedanken Sind Frei" with news clips from 2016-2017.
RE:MORSE STEREO
Re:Morse is a work for fixed media advocating for suicide awareness. In an online survey, the composer asked participants: in one sentence, what would you say to someone who was writing a suicide letter right in front of you? These responses, both in spoken form as well as in Morse code translation, were used to create the work.
This is what matters Laptop
This is What Matters functions as a tongue-in-cheek look into the mind of a student composer in the midst of working towards their degree.
52FACTORIAL LIVE ELECTRONICS AND IMPROVISATION
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52Factorial is an open ended, improvisation-based system in which cards are drawn, enabling certain devices inside of a Max patch that generate various signals as well as affecting input through a microphone. Each suit performs tasks, and each card value inside of each suit performs a varied version of each task. In addition to these Max effects, each card contains four visual aspects (the code, the value, the sign, and the season) that assist in guiding the performer's improvisation.
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FOR REILLY FILM COMPOSITION AND SOUND DESIGN
For Reilly was created in collaboration with choreographer Tanner Fant and videographer Corey Carpenter for premiere at the 2018 Dance Alabama! Film Festival. The video received the award for Best Score at the festival.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN ELECTRONICS AND DANCERS
To Whom It May Concern is a work for fixed media and dancers inspired by Re:Morse, created from a collaboration with choreographer Rebecca Salzer for premiere performance during the 2016 Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre season.
REMAIN CALM (I CAN'T) FILM COMPOSITION AND SOUND DESIGN
Remain Calm (I Can't) was created in collaboration with choreographer Alex Mannings for premiere at the 2016 Dance Alabama! Film Festival.
Unifying Sonification Comparing and codifying standards of sonification between artistic and scientific communities
Since its conception in the late twentieth century, sonification has become an increasingly popular field for artists and scientists alike, providing audiences with unique perspectives into data. This shared use has not gone without debate; many examples of sonification used in artists’ works are believed to be unfaithful to the data used, a distorted form that functions to emphasize the emotional effect desired. Unifying the definition and standards of sonification would increase communication between the two communities, ideally leading to a higher quality and quantity of future collaborations. This paper uses a standard for sonification codified in The Sonification Handbook by Thomas Hermann, viewing recent examples of works claiming to use sonification through the lens of their ability (or inability) to meet these standards. Through examination, it is seen that collaborative efforts between members of the artistic and scientific communities are more likely to match standards of sonification set by Hermann as well as create works of art that have more detailed relationships to the data involved.
For access to scores and other resources, please contact the composer by means of the contact form or emailing jbtubbs@crimson.ua.edu