Glenn Kotche -- Mobile (Part 1 of 2)
Glenn Kotche
Mobile
Nonesuch; 2006
Rating: 8.8
The following thoughts, comments, and ruminations upon the compositions comprising Mobile come directly from the CD’s liner notes; so, naturally, these are Glenn Kotche’s own words. Thus, as with my own writing, to steal his words and claim them as your own is to commit theft. If you want to use them, just make sure people know they’re Mr. Kotche’s and not yours.
But, in general, I just wanted to include the liner notes as the first part of my post/review of his album to give people a better idea of what his thought processes were in launching into the beautifully ambitious project that is Mobile. Please read & enjoy. The actual review is coming soon.
Track List
1) Clapping Music Variations – 4:45
2) Mobile Parts 1 & 2 – 5:42
3) Mobile Part 3 – 2:38
4) Projections of (What) Might… – 4:55
5) Monkey Chant – 11:29
6) Reductions or Imitations – 3:18
7) Individual Trains – 3:54
8) Fantasy on a Shona Theme – 4:06
Introduction
In the right lighting, I’m usually struck as much by the shadows that a mobile creates as by the sculpture itself. I’m also fascinated by the kinetic nature that affects relationships between the same basic parts to make something perpetually new. Throughout the record I investigate the idea of negative or opposite rhythm by utilizing the intrinsic spaces – or rests – of rhythms. Many of the songs were shaped from a few simple ingredients and then used in varying forms and different contexts, each time creating something new, yet homogeneous. Many primary themes of this record are mobile, as they are used in multiple settings throughout – they’re migratory. Some of these pieces are also rooted in linearly stretching or expanding something rhythmic as a basis for musical elaboration. This leads to the exploration of rhythm through composition as an extension of my drumming.
Clapping Music Variations
Almost all of the elements in this piece were inspired by Steve Reich’s 1972 duet for hand-clapping, “Clapping Music.” I was fascinated by the rhythmic complexity of something so compositionally simple and pretty. As a personal challenge, I decided to learn it as a duet between the right and left hands so I could play it solo. Soon after this, many other possibilities became evident and the adaptation was expanded accordingly. I used the negative rhythm of each part separately and in tandem. I also used rhythmic standposts, treating each line as a musical phrase independent of meter, and then used the rhythm of the first, second, or third notes of each phrase exclusively. I assigned pitches to the original pattern and let the melodies evolve in the same manner that the rhythms of the original evolve. I used the two parts independently of each other and utilized them in retrograde and half time. The spaces of the original patterns are the sole indicator of when elements of the variations are dampened or left sustained. I also took liberties with the number of repetitions of each pattern, letting some of the variations overlap. Even the addition of the various pulses is a tribute to Mr. Reich. The first example of a mobile theme occurs in the final variation.
Mobile Parts 1, 2, and 3
All three parts of this piece are based on three interlocking kalimba melodies that I wrote in my hotel room during the Wilco N.Y.C. Ghost sessions. These three melodies are utilized in various voices, positions, and contexts; their relationships are constantly changing just like the pieces of a mobile structure. Even the drums in parts 2 and 3 come from those melodies. The underlying concept of part 1 finds each note of the melody eventually replaced with a sustained tone of the opposite rhythm, its shadow, revealing the unintentional rhythm of the spaces – that is, the rhythm of what isn’t there. Part 3 contains a mobile element – a monkey chant melody. The kalimba that I originally used was tuned to the primary scale of the Monkey Chant/Kecak. I chose to keep this as the dominant mode that runs throughout the record, the same mode in which the three melodic lines are written.
Projections of (what) Might…
Nigerian master musician Tony Allen and jazz legend Ed Blackwell initially inspired this piece. I wrote my impressions of some of their drum grooves in the form of complex vamps performed on drum kit. The formal structure is a stretched duplication of one of these phrases. Each voice of that vamp was then replaced with another vamp. The sounds of the original phrases were then enhanced by synthetic sounds. This wasn’t done to disguise the piece’s origins but to show their lasting relevance in a fresh context.
Monkey Chant for Solo Drum Kit
This is a loose retelling, through percussion, of the monkey army’s battle from the Hindu epic Ramayana tale. My version follows the narrative of this story, often attempting a literal representation of certain parts such as some character interactions. At other times I take liberties, metaphorically representing events like the final battle between Rama and Ravana. I use the percussive elements of the chant from several recorded versions of the Kecak, especially the Explorer Series Golden Rain. I assigned specific voices from parts of my electro-acoustic drum kit to play the roles of the characters (the cricket boxes are a direct lift from the real crickets overheard in the original tale). The following is an abbreviated summary of the interpretation that I used for some of the main events.
Characters
Rama, 7th incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu (protagonist) – wires and sticks on the drum head and drums in the final section
Sita, Rama’s wife and heroine – friction stick on the snare head
Hanuman, monkey general and ally of Rama – large pull strings on the snare head
Ravana, ten-headed king of the Rakshasas (demons) from Lanka (antagonist) – small spring clusters on the snare head
Indrajit, son of Ravana – high-hat when struck
Monkey Army – drums (both the chanting ostinato and rhythmic melodies)
Reductions or Imitations
This is another example of rhythmically stretching and expanding a simple pattern into a piece of music, allowing the micro to become the macro. I started with the drumbeats from the Wilco song “The Late Greats” and the Minus Five song “What I Don’t Believe.” “The Late Greats” uses a juxtaposition of the feet playing double-time the hands while “What I Don’t Believe” uses a cyclical pattern. Each beat was stretched and in some cases inverted. I then replaced the voices of each beat with melodic or rhythmic phrases. From this starting point, the material was reduced or orchestrated.
Individual Trains
This is the final piece on the record that explored the idea of stretching or expanding something exclusively rhythmic. Its basic form is an expanded version of the very first original drum “beat” that I came up with, at age fifteen. I took each subdivision of the beat and stretched it several times in duration. Then each voice of it opposite rhythm was substituted with a more rhythmically complex texture. The end result gives me the feeling of concurrent individual events with a hidden connection. This title, one of three on Mobile, is borrowed from the writings of the seminal solo percussionist Max Neuhaus.
Fantasy on a Shona Theme for Solo Vibraphone
This piece originated from an mbira melody transposed to vibraphone. The opening right-hand melody emulates the cyclical, rolling feel of Shona mbira music. I try to retain that metrically ambiguous feel throughout the song by using melodic lines that interlock, weave, and constantly evolve. I also borrow the role of the vocal lines – improvisatory, yet culling from the same material as the mbira accompaniment.
Mobile
Nonesuch; 2006
Rating: 8.8
The following thoughts, comments, and ruminations upon the compositions comprising Mobile come directly from the CD’s liner notes; so, naturally, these are Glenn Kotche’s own words. Thus, as with my own writing, to steal his words and claim them as your own is to commit theft. If you want to use them, just make sure people know they’re Mr. Kotche’s and not yours.
But, in general, I just wanted to include the liner notes as the first part of my post/review of his album to give people a better idea of what his thought processes were in launching into the beautifully ambitious project that is Mobile. Please read & enjoy. The actual review is coming soon.
Track List
1) Clapping Music Variations – 4:45
2) Mobile Parts 1 & 2 – 5:42
3) Mobile Part 3 – 2:38
4) Projections of (What) Might… – 4:55
5) Monkey Chant – 11:29
6) Reductions or Imitations – 3:18
7) Individual Trains – 3:54
8) Fantasy on a Shona Theme – 4:06
Introduction
In the right lighting, I’m usually struck as much by the shadows that a mobile creates as by the sculpture itself. I’m also fascinated by the kinetic nature that affects relationships between the same basic parts to make something perpetually new. Throughout the record I investigate the idea of negative or opposite rhythm by utilizing the intrinsic spaces – or rests – of rhythms. Many of the songs were shaped from a few simple ingredients and then used in varying forms and different contexts, each time creating something new, yet homogeneous. Many primary themes of this record are mobile, as they are used in multiple settings throughout – they’re migratory. Some of these pieces are also rooted in linearly stretching or expanding something rhythmic as a basis for musical elaboration. This leads to the exploration of rhythm through composition as an extension of my drumming.
Clapping Music Variations
Almost all of the elements in this piece were inspired by Steve Reich’s 1972 duet for hand-clapping, “Clapping Music.” I was fascinated by the rhythmic complexity of something so compositionally simple and pretty. As a personal challenge, I decided to learn it as a duet between the right and left hands so I could play it solo. Soon after this, many other possibilities became evident and the adaptation was expanded accordingly. I used the negative rhythm of each part separately and in tandem. I also used rhythmic standposts, treating each line as a musical phrase independent of meter, and then used the rhythm of the first, second, or third notes of each phrase exclusively. I assigned pitches to the original pattern and let the melodies evolve in the same manner that the rhythms of the original evolve. I used the two parts independently of each other and utilized them in retrograde and half time. The spaces of the original patterns are the sole indicator of when elements of the variations are dampened or left sustained. I also took liberties with the number of repetitions of each pattern, letting some of the variations overlap. Even the addition of the various pulses is a tribute to Mr. Reich. The first example of a mobile theme occurs in the final variation.
Mobile Parts 1, 2, and 3
All three parts of this piece are based on three interlocking kalimba melodies that I wrote in my hotel room during the Wilco N.Y.C. Ghost sessions. These three melodies are utilized in various voices, positions, and contexts; their relationships are constantly changing just like the pieces of a mobile structure. Even the drums in parts 2 and 3 come from those melodies. The underlying concept of part 1 finds each note of the melody eventually replaced with a sustained tone of the opposite rhythm, its shadow, revealing the unintentional rhythm of the spaces – that is, the rhythm of what isn’t there. Part 3 contains a mobile element – a monkey chant melody. The kalimba that I originally used was tuned to the primary scale of the Monkey Chant/Kecak. I chose to keep this as the dominant mode that runs throughout the record, the same mode in which the three melodic lines are written.
Projections of (what) Might…
Nigerian master musician Tony Allen and jazz legend Ed Blackwell initially inspired this piece. I wrote my impressions of some of their drum grooves in the form of complex vamps performed on drum kit. The formal structure is a stretched duplication of one of these phrases. Each voice of that vamp was then replaced with another vamp. The sounds of the original phrases were then enhanced by synthetic sounds. This wasn’t done to disguise the piece’s origins but to show their lasting relevance in a fresh context.
Monkey Chant for Solo Drum Kit
This is a loose retelling, through percussion, of the monkey army’s battle from the Hindu epic Ramayana tale. My version follows the narrative of this story, often attempting a literal representation of certain parts such as some character interactions. At other times I take liberties, metaphorically representing events like the final battle between Rama and Ravana. I use the percussive elements of the chant from several recorded versions of the Kecak, especially the Explorer Series Golden Rain. I assigned specific voices from parts of my electro-acoustic drum kit to play the roles of the characters (the cricket boxes are a direct lift from the real crickets overheard in the original tale). The following is an abbreviated summary of the interpretation that I used for some of the main events.
Characters
Rama, 7th incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu (protagonist) – wires and sticks on the drum head and drums in the final section
Sita, Rama’s wife and heroine – friction stick on the snare head
Hanuman, monkey general and ally of Rama – large pull strings on the snare head
Ravana, ten-headed king of the Rakshasas (demons) from Lanka (antagonist) – small spring clusters on the snare head
Indrajit, son of Ravana – high-hat when struck
Monkey Army – drums (both the chanting ostinato and rhythmic melodies)
Reductions or Imitations
This is another example of rhythmically stretching and expanding a simple pattern into a piece of music, allowing the micro to become the macro. I started with the drumbeats from the Wilco song “The Late Greats” and the Minus Five song “What I Don’t Believe.” “The Late Greats” uses a juxtaposition of the feet playing double-time the hands while “What I Don’t Believe” uses a cyclical pattern. Each beat was stretched and in some cases inverted. I then replaced the voices of each beat with melodic or rhythmic phrases. From this starting point, the material was reduced or orchestrated.
Individual Trains
This is the final piece on the record that explored the idea of stretching or expanding something exclusively rhythmic. Its basic form is an expanded version of the very first original drum “beat” that I came up with, at age fifteen. I took each subdivision of the beat and stretched it several times in duration. Then each voice of it opposite rhythm was substituted with a more rhythmically complex texture. The end result gives me the feeling of concurrent individual events with a hidden connection. This title, one of three on Mobile, is borrowed from the writings of the seminal solo percussionist Max Neuhaus.
Fantasy on a Shona Theme for Solo Vibraphone
This piece originated from an mbira melody transposed to vibraphone. The opening right-hand melody emulates the cyclical, rolling feel of Shona mbira music. I try to retain that metrically ambiguous feel throughout the song by using melodic lines that interlock, weave, and constantly evolve. I also borrow the role of the vocal lines – improvisatory, yet culling from the same material as the mbira accompaniment.
posted by APN at 5:54 PM
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