Fanatics is built with four themes (see themes PDF file) which are continuously developed throughout the piece. The themes collide and ultimately fragment into unrecognizable shards in an improvised section using fixed pitch sets. The destruction of the themes is further represented by the output of a Max/MSP patch. The patch records a small chunk of the improvisatory section into a buffer, which is then played back in a loop and processed with spectral filtering, reverberation, and amplitude modulation.

The rather unusual ensemble was chosen for a couple reasons. First, each instrument has a wide range of pitches with which to work. More importantly, the instruments have very distinct and interesting timbres, both in relation to each other and to the different registers of any single instrument. I wanted this wide palette to be able to contrast these different sounds with one another, but I also wanted to try blending these different flavors to create new and exciting composites.

click here for a RealAudio file of Fanatics

Players featured on this recording:

Candace Alston - Bb clarinet
Derrick Michaels - tenor saxophone
Robert Chiles - cello
Paul Turowski - Max/MSP processing

Click here for a PDF version of the title page, program notes, and technical notes
Click here for a PDF version of the score
Click here for a PDF version of the themes

Contact composer for the Max/MSP patch needed to perform this work