St Croix (Original composition, Electric croixssant)
By: by Andrew Edward Staniland.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 37
ISBN-13: 9780494158906
Description: In fall of 2005 I was fortunate enough to cross the Atlantic, at near the same age as my grandfather was on his journey, for a much lighter task, that of a residency at the Centre for the Creation of Music Iannis Xenakis (CCMIX) in Paris, France, to realise the electronic component of this piece. At the CCMIX, a MAX/MSP instrument, dubbed the Electric Croixssant , was built to execute the live electronics.The Canadian warship HMCS St Croix was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean in 1943, one of the first allied casualties caused by a new 'acoustic' torpedo. Most of the crew, including George Frederick Parnell, my grandfather, were killed. This work is dedicated to him.The role of the live electronics is essentially a spatial extension of the percussion in the beginning and middle of the work, and an extension of the trombone in the end of the work. I wanted the electronics to be clear and concise---like a contributing member of the ensemble, rather than a featured soloist. I also wanted to avoid overuse of the large array of digital signal processing techniques available, focusing only on a small number of transformative processes, limited to pitch shifting, pitch bending, and spacialization. In the spirit of Iannis Xenakis, the electronics are programmed stochastically at several levels with the same parameters that I used to create the acoustic score. The most significant parameter shared between the composition and the architecture of the Electric Croixssant is the use of prime numbers. These enigmatic numbers play an important role in the compositional fabric of the work, influencing rhythm, pitch, and aesthetic choices throughout. These numbers also play an important role in the programming of the  Electric Croixssant, particularly in the stochastic processes that occur which choose the timing (rhythm), location (spacialization), density, and duration of musical events. The musician performing the electronic croixssant receives a standard part like any other instrumentalist, and is called upon to make defining artistic choices, making each performance musical and consistent, yet unique. Such is the strength of using live electronics as opposed to pre-realized electronics.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2391.

Thesis (Mus.Doc.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.