The last performance of the Terminal Quartet took place in Brisbane, at the State Library of Queensland, 24 June. A recording of that performance, featuring Lawrence English, Andrew Kettle, Julian Knowles and myself, is now available online:
Licht Drift MP3 Download
Licht Drift Podcast
Notes for a new structured improvisation in the Drift Theory series for the Terminal Quartet.
Licht Drift is the eighth collaborative composition in the Drift Theory series. Drift Theory is a structured improvisation, each performance entirely unique, each performance influencing the next, exerting notions of drift as it may occur in creative, social and psychological development, both of the performers and the piece itself.
Licht Drift, inspired by Karlheinz Stockhausen’s epic operatic cycle, Licht, is based on four movements, each movement draws references from sacred music, sounds and text the world over.
All four movements, conceived independently by each performer, and in isolation from each other, must ensure that principles of drift influence the overall direction and outcomes of, for example, any cultural, political and astronomical contexts explored.
Drift is used to define a system having a distribution of events, objects, associations and intentions of individual velocities.
The theme(s) of the piece would be based on music as a communal, cultural process that seeks to transmit that which separates and that which brings us together…
In effect, I’m talking about creating an electro acoustic work that expresses separation, longing and unification – a contemporary work that draws on the sacred, that communicates to audiences through the relentless pace of commerce, its unyielding drain on finite resources and the homogenisation that results from its opportunistic outreach.
For more details about Licht Drift, go to the Secession wiki.
Have some thoughts on the Terminal Quartet performance commissioned for the Growing the Australian Commons Conference, some of which I’d like to incorporate acoustic instruments that are appropriated in real time, in that what each participant contributes is not only a theme as such, but a process for integration of the acoustic qualities of the instruments at hand… and the instruments would be of a traditional nature, tuned to accommodate a pre-defined markam (or marquam). These are essentially Turkish scales used for improvisation that display unique intervalic characteristics.
So, that’s roughly the theory side of things. In practical terms, everything the quartet performs, from the individual movements created by each performer to the final work would be CC licensed for re-use and catalogued online within freesound, etc. Each participant would also be encouraged to utilise CC licensed samples and soundscapes…
The theme(s) of the piece would be based on creativity, specifically music as a communal, cultural process that seeks to transmit that which separates and that which brings us together… in affect, I’m are talking about creating an electro acoustic work that expresses separation, longing and unification – a contemporary work that draws on the sacred that communicates to audiences through the relentless pace of commerce and homogenisation, the excessive drain on finite resources to sustain modernity and every other mind numbing global crisis.
We may call the piece, Licht Drift and dedicate the work to Stockhausen.
It’s becoming near on annually that the Terminal Quartet performs in Melbourne. You’ll find us at the Make it up Club Invasion Day Festival with special guest, Ash Wednesday. I doubt it will be much of a celebration, but even a wake can be an inspiration towards a deeper understanding of our connectedness to all things.
When: Friday 26 January, open 6pm, TQ on stage at 8pm sharp
Where: Upstairs @ Bar Open, 317 Brunswick St Fitzroy.
How Much: $10 at door. For bookings call Belinda on 9486 2423.
More: http://www.makeitupclub.com.au [click 'gigs'] for full program
Terminal Quartet:
ANDREW GARTON
STEVE LAW
JOHN GRANT
ASH WEDNESDAY
The Terminal Quartet was originally conceived by composer/producer Andrew Garton and video artist John Power as a means to define software as instrument, both in an audible and visual context.
An excellent and colourful set of stills of the Terminal Quartet taken by Justina Curtis in March 2005. By selecting any one of these photos you’ll find the entire collection on my Flickr.
L-R: Ollie Olsen, John Grant, Andrew Garton, Steve Law
Tags: terminalquartet ollielosen andrewgarton stevelaw johngrant
Photos taken by Alan Bamford at the Make It Up Club of the Terminal Quartet with special guest Robert Henke (aka Monolake) and Steve Law.
I was recently asked three questions from organisers of our (Terminal Quartet) performance in Brisbane, 25 July (Small Black Box/Liquid Architecture5). I believe this will appear, along with answers from other performers, in their catalogue.
The Terminal Quartet was originally conceived by composer/producer Andrew Garton and video artist John Power as a means to define software as instrument, both in an audible and visual context.
The Quartet performs structured improvisations. Performers research and arrange individual movements in isolation from each other as governed by the context and structure of Garton’s compositions.
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