cognatism

two cellos and pre-recorded sounds

approx. 5 minutes in duration

Premiered on 2/21/19 at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee by Brianna Tagliaferro and Ben Baker

Cognate: (of a word) having the same linguistic derivation as another; from the same original word or root.

              2: related; connected.

This duo was originally written in response to Mario Davidovsky’s Synchronism No. 3 for cello and tape. In that work, Davidovsky focuses on the two contrasting timbres of the cello and the tape sound occurring at the same time. For Cognatism, I wanted to put my own spin on a similar concept: two different sounds that originally came from the same source and, when presented together, result in a larger, complete unit. If both pieces (Synchronism No. 3 and Cognatism) are played together, the audience may pick up on occasional, albeit slowed down quotes from Synchronism No 3 that were intentionally put into Cognatism.

When preparing this piece, the cellists should learn both the ‘live’ and ‘recorded’ parts with the goal of pre-taping the recorded parts in order to create a multi-track effect for the live performance. Suggested parameters for simple processing/mixing are indicated in the score. The desired effect is inline with creating what is perceived as one massive instrument with independently moving lines.

The Pure Data patch used in the premiere is available here. Unzip the file and open ‘cognatism_patch.pd’ (All controls can be adjusted by clicking on the desired faders and buttons. Instructions for utilizing a MIDI controller for these functions are found in the score.)

Pure Data is a free audio processing software that can be downloaded here.

The score is available here.