Pitchfork: Mobile Miniatures

"Normally my iPhone ringer is set firmly to "off," but I recently changed it to a new piece by the esteemed composer and one-time Pulitzer finalist Augusta Read Thomas. It's a 35-second, anxious tangle of pizzicato and odd-angled violin and cello lines called "You're Just About to Miss Your Call!" It really captures the existential panic that its title describes.  

Thomas's piece was commissioned by the Spektral Quartet, an enterprising Chicago-based string ensemble that recently decided it wanted to populate the world's iPhones with contemporary classical music. For what they're calling the Mobile Miniatures project ("Your mobile phone is our newest concert venue"), they contacted 46 composers. For anyone who follows the world of contemporary classical, it's an embarrassment of riches: everyone from Bang On A Can co-founder David Lang to Nico Muhly to indie figures like Deerhoof's Greg Saunier and Julia Holter."

To read the whole article, click here

Chicago Tribune: The next accordion star

"Their mission," says Labro, referring to the Spektrals, "is to make sure to play new music and traditional repertoire from all genres. And I always wanted to show people that there is music beyond Piazzollla. … That there is life after Piazzolla."

Certainly there is in "From This Point Forward," which marks the beginning of Labro's partnership with the Spektral Quartet, not the end. For their next recording, they plan to venture into contemporary classical music.

To read the whole article, click here

The Telegraph: The new ring-tone composers

"There’s nothing so irritating as someone else’s ring-tone. First comes the jolt to one’s nerves. Then comes the thought, “You really think THAT’s amusing/good to hear?”, as a burst of One Direction or a mooing cow scrapes tinnily at one’s ears. Of course our own ring-tone is always a model of discreet wit and taste. And yet when it rings we’re always desperate to turn it off, which shows wit and taste aren’t really the issue. The ring-tone is simply beyond redemption. It’s irritation in its purest form, like cold calls or being put on hold.  

The Spektral Quartet, a Chicago-based string quartet, begs to disagree. They think a ring-tone can be a moment of aural delight, and have commissioned 65 brand-new ring-tone-sized pieces to prove it, all available to download from the quartet’s website. They range from one second in duration to 40, and have been written by 47 American composers of all ages, races and styles."

To read the whole article, click here

Chicago Classical Review: Haydn’s “Seven Last Words” finds luminous expression with Seraphic Fire and Spektral Quartet

 "The Spektral Quartet performed The Seven Last Words alone in Rockefeller Chapel in March 2013, and as a resident ensemble at the University of Chicago, they know how to adjust their performance for the chapel’s acoustics. Each instrumental line, especially the sweet but steely sound of Aurelien Fort Pederzoli’s solo violin, was clear, but the overall texture had a velvet edge. In the sixth movement (“Jesus cried out: I thirst”) of the nine-movement piece, the plucked violins and violas sounded like guitars gliding through a hushed lullaby. This was religious meditation with a gentle edge rather than the sharp angles and angry undercurrent of heaven-storming fire and brimstone." 

To read the whole article, click here

Huffington Post: These Game-Changing Ringtones Bring The Symphony To The Streets

"Think of it as public art -- except that it's on your phone.  

Thanks to an innovative new initiative from the Chicago-based contemporary classical ensemble Spektral Quartet, cell phone users will no longer be limited to a selection of dreary, muzak-esque sound bites or blaring, regrettable Top 40 clips when it comes to choosing their ringtones.

Late last month, the quartet launched Mobile Miniatures, a new Kickstarter-backedproject where they commissioned over 45 different composers -- including familiar names like Nico Muhly, Julia Holter, the Dirty Projectors' Olga Bell and Pulitzer Prize winners Shulamit Ran and David Lang -- to create original pieces specifically intended to serve as ringtones. The ensemble then performed and recorded the compositions, putting them up for sale on their website."

To read the whole article, click here

Miami Herald: Seraphic Fire takes on 'The Seven Last Words of Christ'

"With perfectly coordinated entrances and silences, Spektral’s mature, passionate rendition had the purity and precision of a Mozart overture. This sober, forceful tone prevailed in the chorus for the remaining seven Sonatas."

To read the whole article, click here

Sniff My Pits!

We’ve all been there…

Two hours in a suit or gown, the stage lights radiating down with the heat of a thousand suns as you tear through a Presto movement. The lateral blast of the air conditioning creates a frigid ring at your collar, the wet blooming outward with every passing measure. Ticklish beads of sweat scurry down from the under-arm toward the culvert at the belt line.

As you stand for the final bow, you consider the options for greeting friends and fans in the lobby. The old elbows-planted-at-the-waist hug? A quick change of shirt? Did you bring an extra shirt? 

This inevitable performer’s scenario has taken me through pretty much every deodorant and antiperspirant available to humanity. From the voodoo pastes (looking at you, Lush) to the Nordic crystals to the chemical slurry at the pharmacy. I’ve tried them all…even that pore solder that is sold to brides-to-be that comes with all the terrifying warnings of death, despair and disease on the back.

The thing is, you can stuff your skin full of aluminum and sweat a little less, but I don’t need a double-blind, peer-reviewed study to infer that this approach may cause my armpits to go all RoboCop.

The good news is I’ve found a product that doesn’t lance your pores with metal chips, smells fantastic and minimizes packaging waste. I give you: Life Stinks Deodorant

The little glass tube you see is the oil, which goes on first, is light and won’t stain your clothes, I promise. You rub a tiny amount on your fingertips and apply. Then comes the powder, which you can buy in a small plastic dispenser (I use it for travel), or the larger metal container with the screen on top. The benefit of the latter is that it is refillable, cutting WAY down on waste. Just fill the dispenser from the bag, shake a bit on your palm and pat under your arms. It takes exactly one go-around with this process to get used to the old-fashioned powder method and forget all about roll-ons.

So now the benefits:

1. This stuff smells fantastic. I love the cedar version, but the lavender is great too.
2. I stay drier longer. 
3. Even though I will eventually sweat, especially under those stage lights, I never get to that funky odor place because of the combo of the oil and powder.
4. My shirts are lasting longer because there isn’t a white paste build-up from antiperspirant.
5. I can give you a real hug, elbows unencumbered, after the show.
6. It’s a natural product, and won’t plug your pores with aluminum.

This is an awfully long post about deodorant, but it took me decades to find my holy grail unicorn of underarm delights. I hope it helps you, fellow performer, and that all your future shows are funky for the right reasons.

Old Man and the C cheats on his Dr. Beat

It's been a little while since I dropped some music gear recommendations on you, but trust me on this...this one is well worth the wait!

I remember being ecstatic when metronome apps first started surfacing on iOS, and then quickly realizing that I needed to play everything ppppp with it if I stood any chance of actually hearing the click. Even some of the more robust metronomes (in terms of custom subdivisions) like Metronomics are essentially useless in an ensemble setting because they are about as audible as:

So the options are, 1) cart around a Dr. Beat DB-90 and its requisite power adapter or 2) plug the iPhone into an existing stereo system or speaker and be constantly bending over or running across the room to adjust settings and turn it on/off. Both options are lousy.

Then it hit me: Bluetooth speaker, son!

I had ignored these when they were first introduced because of their dubious audio quality, but for a metronome, this strident mono sound would be perfect. After much deliberation, I decided on the TekNmotion Air Capsule because it pumps out good volume and (full aesthetic disclosure), it is housed in sexy brushed aluminum. It's small enough to fit in my messenger bag, isn't tethered by any cabling (BT connection to my iPhone) and runs for days on an internal rechargeable battery. This thing is changing my musical life, for real, and it doubles as a hands-free device in the car. While it isn't loud enough for a string quartet going full-tilt fffff, it is more than enough for most sonic scenarios. If you want even more decibels, some of these speakers can be daisy-chained (TekNmotion cannot).

Now, your metronome app of choice is ready for business and your phone can remain on the stand with you. Time to go get groovy...

Old Man and the C cheats on his Dr. Beat

It's been a little while since I dropped some music gear recommendations on you, but trust me on this...this one is well worth the wait!

I remember being ecstatic when metronome apps first started surfacing on iOS, and then quickly realizing that I needed to play everything ppppp with it if I stood any chance of actually hearing the click. Even some of the more robust metronomes (in terms of custom subdivisions) like Metronomics are essentially useless in an ensemble setting because they are about as audible as:

So the options are, 1) cart around a Dr. Beat DB-90 and its requisite power adapter or 2) plug the iPhone into an existing stereo system or speaker and be constantly bending over or running across the room to adjust settings and turn it on/off. Both options are lousy.

Then it hit me: Bluetooth speaker, son!

I had ignored these when they were first introduced because of their dubious audio quality, but for a metronome, this strident mono sound would be perfect. After much deliberation, I decided on the TekNmotion Air Capsule because it pumps out good volume and (full aesthetic disclosure), it is housed in sexy brushed aluminum. It's small enough to fit in my messenger bag, isn't tethered by any cabling (BT connection to my iPhone) and runs for days on an internal rechargeable battery. This thing is changing my musical life, for real, and it doubles as a hands-free device in the car. While it isn't loud enough for a string quartet going full-tilt fffff, it is more than enough for most sonic scenarios. If you want even more decibels, some of these speakers can be daisy-chained (TekNmotion cannot).

Now, your metronome app of choice is ready for business and your phone can remain on the stand with you. Time to go get groovy...

Ringmasters: Collin J Rae

Collin J Rae is one of the most multi-faceted artists I know. We met, virtually-speaking, when Collin was working for Naxos Records where among his many responsibilities, he was creating box sets and collections of some of the weirder (translation: more compelling) music at the label. Rather than the usual Beethoven sonata or Mahler symphony release, Collin was championing new-music talent like Gloria Coates, Nicholas Repac and Frank Bretschneider. Needless to say, we became fast friends and colleagues.

Collin is also one of the world's most highly-regarded foot fetish photographers. Bet you didn't see that one coming.

Spektral recently partnered with this boundary-hopping composer for his F O N E (an un-performable symphony) project. Like the other collaborators, we left Collin a voicemail, playing one of the gnarlier passages of Elliott Carter's Quartet No. 2. All of these voicemails will be mined and restructured to create a brand-new work. It sounds fantastic and bizarre, right?

We are really lucky to have Collin on board for Mobile Miniatures, and can't wait to hear what shenanigans and tomfoolery he gets up to with his ringtone!

Ringmasters: Shulamit Ran

Shulamit Ran is one of the most artistically generous composers I know. While preparing her Perfect Storm (for solo viola) for a performance at University of Chicago last year, she invited me to her home for a coaching. What took me by surprise that day is Shulamit's deftness in verbally articulating what she's after, gesturally and emotionally, in her music. Composing a brilliant and virtuosic passage is one thing, but guiding the performer there expediently, getting him to "hear" exactly what you "hear" is something else entirely.

 

Shulamit's music is expertly crafted, demonstrative and poignant. She's also in high demand around the world, so we were delighted when she came on board for Mobile Miniatures. One of her reasons, she explained, is that the challenge of "saying something" in 3-30 seconds was too perplexing to pass up. 

 

It should tell you all you need to know about Shulamit's work ethic and drive as a composer that in a recent correspondence, she informed us that she had written not one, but an ENTIRE SUITE of ringtones! I feel like we just won the composer commission lottery!

Ringmasters: Matt Marks

Matt Marks is one of my favorite composers on Twitter. To give you a taste of his particular brand of humor, his 2010 debut album is titled, The Little Death, Vol. 1. Feel free to go look that phrase up, if you aren't already chuckling.

Little Death is emblematic of why I am drawn in by Matt's music. Sugary pop sequences intermingle with praise music, gospel and hip-hop in a subversive narrative about (among other things) navigating sexual tension in a fundamentalist community. Matt is skilled at holding up that proverbial mirror, and nails it with an ecstatic and charming aural delivery system. Give "He Touched Me" a listen and get a taste...

 

Matt is particularly suited to writing a ringtone for Mobile Miniatures, and based on our email correspondence, his will inevitably cause spontaneous eruptions of smiles when your phone goes off in the elevator.

Ringmasters: Sarah Kirkland Snider

 What fascinates me, listening to Sarah Kirkland Snider's 2010 album, Penelope, is that it is even more enchanting today than when I first heard it three years ago...and given how often I had it on rotation back then, that is saying something.

Penelope has an expedient way of slipping the listener immediately into the warm solitude of melancholy, and I am ecstatic that a composer capable of such magnetism has partnered with Spektral Quartet for Mobile Miniatures. 

 

The mission of Mobile Miniatures is to explode a supernova of new-music across the world using phones as the transmitters. I am inspired by the thought of a fellow el passenger hearing Sarah's ringtone and asking, "That's beautiful. Who wrote that?" I love the idea of striking up a conversation while boarding an international flight and having an auditory launch point to tell my seat-mate about Sarah's catalogue, or the new-music label she co-directs, New Amsterdam Records.

 

- Doyle

Ringmasters: Anna Thorvaldsdottir

When Anna Thorvaldsdottir accepted our invitation to write a ringtone for Mobile Miniatures, I did a fist pump that nearly dislocated my shoulder. Ever since listening to her 2011 breakout album, Rhizoma, I've been fascinated with Anna's ability to push the horizon of sound far beyond what one might expect from a recording. It's like being chopper-lifted to a remote mountain valley, left with no company but the surrounding landscape and one's own ruminations. It's collosal and miniscule at the same time:

 

 

See what I mean?

 

I can't wait to set Anna's miniature as my wake-up alarm. The only problem is that with sounds this mesmerizing, I might not believe I am yet awake...

 

- Doyle

http://annathorvalds.bandcamp.com/

Old Man and the NostalgiC

In writing up the press materials for our upcoming Sampler Pack concert on August 31st, I've found myself referring to Britten's Three Divertimenti as "pop-music-posing-as-classical." As a music writer doing daily battle with reductive genre labels, this hyphenated moniker is a little cheap on my part, and when it comes down to it, only applies to the second movement Waltz.

 

In any case, "pop" is not a pejorative term in my world. While studying this piece, I've been continually astounded by the simplicity and ear-worm-iness of each melody. Where it becomes distinctly Britten is in the sterling orchestration, clarity of the primary voice, and of course, the occasional gnarly harmonic breakdown. What struck me when I first heard the Waltz, though, was how perfectly this innocent tune would slip into pretty much any Wes Anderson film ever. Like Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums or Moonrise Kingdom, the naiveté of adults and children alike is thrown into stark contrast with the often cold realities of life. 

 

During an early rehearsal of the Waltz, Aurelien commented that the music evoked for him the picture of a young girl who, while twirling about, has tiny glimpses of future hardships. Shifting harmonies that lead back to the theme and a mid-movement agitato/con fuoco passage are the broken hearts here. There is something about 3/4 time signatures that stirs the nostalgic, the wistful and the unblemished in us. Perhaps it is because it's the first style we learn in ballroom dance class. We all did cotillion, right? Right? Oh boy…

 

Not all 3/4 tunes are waltzes, but that fact notwithstanding, there's something about 3/4 and 6/8 that is perfectly situated for a pop ballad. Here are a few of my favorite examples:

 

Metallica - Nothing Else Matters

 

Elliott Smith - Waltz #2

 

These songs instantly shift me into the bliss of nostalgia, and in each, the charm of the meter and the melancholy of the lyrics create a compelling dichotomy. The same can be said for Britten, and before I get completely lost down this rabbit hole, here's what you're in for on the 31st: