FOR SAX. SOLO, PIANO, AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC
JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF DIMENSIONS (PART)
Quantum mechanics and the potential for multi-dimensional existence fascinates me. Though I am not a scientist, I very much enjoy entertaining the possibility that other dimensions are hiding in our world. As a musician, I thought I could explore this notion established by Steven Hawkings and made popular by talented science fiction writers in the form of six movements.
Movement one is about Earth; the middle movements explore different worlds or dimensions; and the final movement relates to Earth again, but in new ways that are reflective of the musical and dimensional journey this piece sets out to pilot.
The instrumental parts of this composition express the emotions associated with a multi-dimensional journey. The electronic parts represent the different kinds of scenery I imagine to be present in all of the new worlds. Though a world with more than three dimensions is intangible and beyond many people's imagination, I will not compose a hodgepodge of nonsense sounds or notes to represent that which defies logic. I will compose based on sounds generated in the real world and organize those sounds in an illogical-logical way in order to represent the different worlds in each movement. I will draw upon research suggesting that while dreaming, people are not limited by their neural system as much as when they are awake, and therefore can sense information from other dimensions, i.e. visualize their dreams. I intend to conceptualize the way the brain transfers (or translates) such information into recognizable images in audible ways.
Unfortunately, the human brain does not always accurately translate images and sounds; this is why, when we recall our dreams, the narrative, imagery, and the like are foggy. As such, the four middle movements of my piece will be distinct in their sounds in order to capture the diverse experience in this journey:
Mvt. II: Use the sound of metal to suggest a world consumed by technology and without warmth.
Mvt III: Use sand and wind sounds to suggest a world that is dry and bold, without any living things.
Mvt. IV: Use sounds generated by an EQ to suggest a world that is hot and violent consumed by warfare and fires.
Mvt. V: Use sounds generated by an EQ to suggest a world that is not tangible, containing nothing but spirits or will-o'-the-wisp . The sound of “spirit air” starts from short value, and then gradually become longer, in order to convey a world in which time (or the measurement of time) is not stable. I want to express the idea that this world is beyond our space-time dimensions and completely imaginary. I want to create a world that scientists cannot prove exists or does not exist.
From Mvt. II to Mvt. V, the electronic music will progress from sounds that are hard and concise, and then gradually dissolve into sounds that are not tangible and more akin to the spirits. Since these sounds are recognizable in our reality but organized in a way that is not quite logical, I am taking a page from surrealism.
In order to present the idea that all of these worlds and dimensions are unified under a grand physical rule, musical elements such as dynamics, pitch intervals, rhythmic pattern, register, and articulations will be carefully interlocked and based upon total-serialism compositional methods.
I hope that when an audience listens to this piece that they will hear many elements individually and as a part of the whole. The instrumental part should bring up associations with reading science fiction novels; and in combination with the electronic part, I want the audience to feel like they're watching a sci-fi movie. The story I am creating can be depicted in two different forms (novel and film), and I hope to find an artist to collaborate with in creating some images for this work in the future.