Twelve-Year-Old Scotch
posted by Corey
UPDATE (03/13/09): New version of the song below.
Corey's favorite scotch
One of my relatives used to work as a neo-natal nurse in a well-known hospital. It’s quite possible that an evil co-worker of hers inspired this song, but the court case is pending, so I can’t go into details… Suffice it to say that nothing exacerbates the fears of hypochondriacs more than a malevolent nurse!
The instruments in this song are flute, piano, drum set, trombone, and violin. One of the musical issues that I’ll be addressing throughout Thirteen Near-Death Experiences is the incorporation of a drum set in the context of a classical chamber ensemble. I don’t want the drum set parts to come off as prog-rock-ish, and I don’t want the drum set to overpower the other instruments which, alas, it is prone to do. Fortunately, the ICE percussionist, Dave Schotzko, and I will be working together to explore ways of changing the “sound” of each drum to create a drum set with quirkitude.
So, you’ll hear the drum-set part in “Twelve-Year-Old Scotch,” but the MIDI realization mp3 below is not going to convey the quirkitude that Dave and I will try to achieve in performance, so… you know… keep that in mind as you’re listening. Having said that, if you have thoughts about the drum set in this song, don’t hesitate to say so.
New version:
Twelve-Year-Old Scotch (03/13/09)
Audio has been removed.
Old version(s):
Twelve-Year-Old Scotch (02/04/09)
Audio has been removed.
When I was born
I cried and cried and cried
And cried and cried
An extreme case of colic
So this alcoholic nurse
Gave me a shot of twelve-year-old scotch
Just to watch
What would happen
[violin solo]
[violin and flute duet]
My diagnosis
Is chronic cirrhosis
Is chronic…
I love my twelve-year-old scotch
I need a constant supply
Just to get by
I need a constant supply
I need a constant supply
Just to get by
I need a constant supply
I need a constant supply
Just to get by
I need a constant supply
Just to get by
Really beautiful writing — I like that you are thinking of using this as an opener. I actually like the sparse texture you have in the early instrumental section. Have you thought of making the piano line even thinner at that point? It could provide a more interesting contrast there…
Expert trombone lines! Clearly your Texas band education has served you well.
Corey replies: What would I do without my marching band experience? That’s a good idea about a sparser piano part in the violin solo section…
Note from Corey: Yvan will be creating movement/choreography for the performances of Thirteen Near-Death Experiences.
True re: mic issues. I really just meant, tho, that it will be nice for there to be times when you are not singing.
Corey replies: Aha, yes I agree.
Note from Corey: Yvan will be creating movement/choreography for the performances of Thirteen Near-Death Experiences.
I do love that the instrumental solos come in so quickly after the song has just begun. Even more so if this is the first song of the piece. Really jives for me with an “aesthetics of failure”.
Having listened through all of the songs now, I’m struck that there are really only two (?) with instrumental solos. The breaks from singing are interesting to me as they allow for you to be involved as a performer in some action other than singing at those times.
Corey replies: Good point, I do need to make more instrumental moments, but on the other hand I don’t think it would be impossible for me to move extensively and sing at the same time. Microphone issues will come up, though…
Hi Corey,
Sorry it’s taken me so long to finally chime in here. Great comments from the above!
I think the part you’ve written will work totally fine, both technically and in terms of sound and balance for this piece. What you mentioned about heavily produced drum sound is a major issue for me in what I do, but I think you side step it nicely here. I don’t feel like this piece is coming so much out of the descendants of Led Zeppelin—where the sound of the drums is in part connected to how hard you’re hitting them—as it is from other sources. The part actually reminds me a little bit of what one might play for an off-kilter jazz ballad, which I think is really interesting. Along these lines, I imagine what a player like Bill Stewart might do with it. (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyBMv1j_gVE)
Generally, I think you’ve done exactly what I tell non-drumming composers they should do when writing for Newspeak: Notate as clearly as you can what you think you want, then expect the details of the part to change, in pursuit of the big picture. Very few people can write a drum part that reflects what a drummer actually plays, and if they can, they probably shouldn’t. We play all these little ghosted notes that you don’t think you hear when listening, but then wonder why the drumset sounds off when they’re gone. A drummer will tend to fill these in naturally, as they tend to follow from the physicality connected to the rhythms, and to write them out can end up looking like time-point serialism. (Do you know Babbitt’s Homily for solo snare drum? Amazing.) I think this results in the stiff drum writing that Dan mentioned above, which I don’t think will ever sound like drumset; rather, really great classical performance, even with—or maybe especially with—the best players. (For some reason this makes me think of Xenakis’ Rebonds.)
So I guess the bottom line, for me, is this: I view the drumset as an instrument existing in an aural tradition, rather than a notated one. In this, I think the best results can be found when a composer has a big-picture sense of what they want to accomplish, and view the achievement of this big picture as a collaborative process with a good player. With this player, the composer can work out the details that will really make it a drumset part, rather than a percussion part played on a drumset, if that makes any sense. A great example of this is Ted Hearne’s work with Ron Willtrout. Check out Dennis Hastert – 8.31.05 from Katrina Ballads, in which the part is a combination of strict notation, working things out in rehearsal, and letting Ron do his thing. (Which he does very well.)
In terms of instruments, what sorts of “preparations” are you planning for the drumset? I think prepared drumset can be really great–I think Paul Wertico might do some interesting things on this front–but I wonder if there might be another way to approach it. For instance, why not use a collection of instruments that replicate/form a “drumset.” Use what Oscar Bettison calls Cinderella Instruments, which he describes as “instruments that really shouldn’t be the belle-of-the-ball but I make them so.” So, instead of a kick drum, put a mic inside a cardboard box and play it with a soft mallet. I’m not sure what you’re going for ultimately, so this might be a terrible suggestion, and might be far more work than you want to have to deal with, but Jim’s comment above about playing with scotch bottles reminded me of both Oscar, or some of Sean Griffin’s writing in Buffalo ’70. Rethinking in this direction might bring you the quirkitude you seek.
Anyway, thanks for including me in this project’s blog. I’m very excited to see how everything turns out!
—–
PS – On the topic of string tunings, I think Pat’s dead on, but I think ensemble intonation can also suffer, since there is nothing to grab onto. I wrote music for a theatre project a few years back, and worked with a great string quartet from LA. Part of the score required that they prepare the slow movement of Haydn Opus 76, No. 5. It’s in something like F# major, and proved very difficult to tune without any open strings to use. Things are definitely complicated when acoustic frames a reference are removed!
Corey replies: David, thanks so much for the insanely comprehensive comments here. The listening you recommend — some of which I am not familiar with — seems immensely helpful, if a tad overwhelming! And your thoughts on the process of “composing” for drum set in collaboration with the player is something Dave Schotzko and I have already talked about, and he’s of the same mindset as you are. I will re-read your comments frequently. Hope the concert went well tonight. Sorry we had conflicting shows!
Ahh, sorry, I didn’t remember that you used to play trombone. With everything amplified it’s far less of an issue anyway.
It’s not a matter of whether they like flat keys or not (there is just as much of an issue with tons of sharps), but a matter of physics. If I play a low D on my C-string, the next partial in the overtone series is a D identical to my open D-string and the next partial is an A identical to my open A string. Both of those open strings will vibrate sympathetically and lend far more resonance to the sound. The same is true on the violin with the A below middle C. Notes like Db or Ab have no sympathetic vibration whatsoever. You can actually see this very clearly if you watch a player play those notes strongly.
Similarly, notes like C on any but the fourth cello string or G on anything but the third cello string or fourth violin string will cause their respective open notes to sympathize. C#s and G#s will be a lot deader.
So, D is kind of the ultimate key for cello/viola and A is the ultimate key for violin. The most resonant keys for strings in general are D, A, C, G and E–but really any keys or non-keys that tend to favor open string notes and/or their higher-partial relatives will be more resonant.
None of this means that writing in Db is bad, just that it won’t be as rich sounding on violin.
Thanks for inviting me to the party, sorry I’m so late.
I’m actually not nearly as concerned about balancing issues for drums in this song as I am about the trombone. Is it safe to assume that your vocals will be amplified? Will anything else be? That trombone register is pretty strong, and there are some places where the player won’t be able to choose a quieter partial, e.g. the gliss in mm.59-60 et al will force the player to get middle C in sixth-position unless they ghost the gliss completely. I think the potential balance problem is mitigated by the fact that the tbone line is the same every time however; it feels like a somewhat disruptive character that keeps interrupting.
Too bad about the key, that really de-embiggens (any other Simpsons fanatics in the house?) the violin sound. Then again, maybe you want the duller sound to leach some espressivity out of it? I could go either way on that, but I think you should definitely save up some richer string keys for a dramatic violin solo later. Then again, I’m overly espressive.
I’m loving the metric feel. I’d be curious to hear what it sounds like if sometimes the vocals have a 3+2 feel against the normal piano 2+3 emphasis. Perhaps on some of the “con-stant sup-ply, just to get by” repetitions?
Corey replies: Hi Pat. I used to play trombone, so I know what you mean about the balance, but all of the instruments will be amplified, and we’ll have a sound engineer in rehearsals and performance. If the trombone still feels too present, I could see about using a hand-mute or a regular mute.
I know that string players do not like keys with lots of flats, but no one has every explained to me why that’s the case. Can you explain? Also, what are the richest string keys? I think I can transpose it one half-step up. The reason it’s in the key it’s in has to do with my vocal range and the trombone’s glissandi, but there might be workarounds…
I’ll just echo Dan on how much I liked the ratcheting of that espressivity all the way up to ‘2′. Things like that that make the artist uncomfortable can be so effective. Of course they can also make others uncomfortable and close off out of some societal defense mechanism, as I found out with a recent project…
Corey replies: There will be other things I’m doing besides singing during the performance. Maybe I’ll work with the choreographer and director to see about the duality issues you raise.
Corey, I’m sure you and Dave will be able to come up with some great solutions to avoid the prog-rock sound. One thing that you may want to consider is him using implements other than drumsticks/mallets/brushes to do the drumming. Scotch bottles (okay, that would be too gimmicky), chains, straps, pencils, corkscrews, those sorts of things – might help disarm Dave’s “mad Xenakis chops” (Bernard Holland, NYTimes) enough to make the sounds quirky enough.
Corey replies: Great idea, Jim! Maybe he could also just kick the bass drum literally, instead of using the kick-pedal. Hehe. Oh, that Bernard Holland quote reminds me of Michael Steele wanting to give the Republican party a “hip-hop makeover.”
I’ve actually been thinking about the Drum Problem a lot lately, thanks to you. Like, why is it so important to me that the fashions and conventions of popular music be addressed in pop-influenced classical music? It’s not like pop music really needs to be protected from classical music/new music, since after all it’s pop that has all of the cultural cachet nowadays. And I can’t allow myself to be satisfied with the obvious answer, which is that classical music which fails to incorporate seamlessly the influence of popular music is “mad gay.”
I think I demand that pop-influenced concert-music succeed according to the standards of pop music basically just because at a certain point I realized that it totally can, but seldom does. Why not? We have the technology, so to speak (by which I mean, new-music vocabularies that can accommodate themselves to pop forms). So why must it always smack of effort? I think part of my excitement at your pop-devouring aesthetic is that I feel like I’ve been waiting so frickin’ long to see these things integrated so naturally.
I’m rambling.
That said. Drums are a problem in rock music too, where they are the great engine of cliché. Why is the drumkit everywhere? Why doesn’t it ever shut up? There are some thrilling exceptions, but so often I wish that more rock drummers would ask themselves questions like, “Does this song need drumming on it? What drum sounds does it need? Should I really be brushing this cymbal right now?”
And I wonder if even the stiffest drum writing of complex crossovery classical will turn out to be pretty good once we invent a drummer awesome enough to make it sound easy and natural.
Okay done rambling.
The point, such as it is, is that you’ve sidestepped all that here. I’m really impressed by the rock-idiomatic surface-simplicity of the drum writing, plus the non-pop economy with which they’re deployed. Can’t wait to hear with actual people/tweaked drums.
Also, your vocals are great on this song. That urgent sound is (from what I’ve heard) something new for you, but you manage it very effectively.
Corey replies: Thanks for your comment, Dan. I guess there’s something about the (acoustic) drum set instrument itself that rarely works for me when it is perpetually active and overbearing. And the tendency of crossoverly composers to play into that stereotype by writing overly complicated drum set parts only exacerbates the problem. I just hope I’m not doing that myself; the temptation is definitely there to overwrite. Fortunately, the interactions I’ve had with Dave (the ICE percussionist/drummer who’ll be playing these pieces) suggest that he shares yours and my concerns about these issues.
Part of the problem could also be that we’re all so accustomed to hearing the drum set mic’ed and mixed well in studio recordings, and most classical ensembles and rock bands naturally don’t have that kind of post-production control over their sound in live performance.
I’m hoping that a certain drummer/composer I know will contribute to this discussion. I imagine his take might be different from ours, and I’m really curious to know what he thinks.
I would say I’ve raised my level of expressivity from 1 to 2 on a scale of 10. That word, expressivity, should be spelled like espresso. I’m going to spell it “espressivity” from now on. Anyway, I’m glad you hear and like the difference. I’m not a particularly expressive person in anything I do, so since I lack the experience of being expressive, I’m pleased that you find the uptick effective.
I think this piece loses momentum a tiny bit in the vn/fl duet section, although I like the instrumental writing there. Maybe bring the drums back for that section, maybe (since I guess balance would be an issue) just in the 6/8 bars? Or maybe it wouldn’t happen at all with live performers.
Corey replies: I understand about the momentum issue. However, I am almost 100% sure that this song will be the first song, even though I’m not sure about the order of the rest of the piece, and I sort of like the idea that the instruments take over after I sing just a few lines. But you may be right that I should add some texture there… We’ll have to see how it goes in rehearsal…