"Scheggi" for Chamber Ensemble.

"Syndergard". Score Page 1 with Moire Coded Grid

"Scheggi"

for Chamber Ensemble

Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Tenor Sax, Percussion, Piano, Theremin Sensor, Violin, Viola, Cello

Bil Smith Composer

Premiere:  Ensemble Ottetto

Soho House, New York, NY

Casual Fermion System for Solo Piano. Bil Smith Composer

"Casual Fermion System" for Solo Piano. 

Bil Smith Composer

Premiere Performance 

CSW59/Beijing+20 (2015)

The 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women 

The United Nations, New York, NY

This work for piano is inspired by the Lagrangian formulation of classical notational field theory  The pianist with instruction: 'a piacere', mimics the dynamics on a causal fermion system that is described by a variational principle defined as follows.

In contemporary physical theories regarding hyper-notational systems, the notion of space-time refers to a Lorentzian manifold (M,g). This means that space-time is a set of points enriched by topological and geometric structures cast into a syntactic score arrangement .

The organization of the meters is closely aligned with the organization of tempos.

In the context of causal fermion systems, space-time does not need to have a manifold notational structure. Instead, space-time M is a set of operators on a Hilbert space (a subset of \mathcal F). 

This implies additional inherent structures that correspond to and generalize usual objects on a space-time manifold in this score represented the vibration sequencing of the color bars on the bottom of the score.

"Does Their Determining Factor Reside In Their Prior Inscriptibility Or In Their Inscription?" The Recording

"Does Their Determining Factor Reside In Their Prior Inscriptibility Or In Their Inscription?" 

The Recording

Bil Smith Composer (2011, Updated 2023)

Upcoming on the "Sound Morphology" blog I will explain the intent of the various terminology associated with the traditional instrumentation listed below.

In this work, I propose a new way of apprehending the radical formalism of unplayable compositions and seek to unveil the politics of the score.  

In doing so, I attempt to expose the mechanics and radical formalism as a practice that moves beyond aesthetic considerations into the realms of ideology and materiality.

For Chamber Orchestra, Allele Adsorbtion (Viola), Inverted Cryoacceleration Plasmotransmutation (French Horn), Polonium Oscillation (Oboe), Titanium Technoionization (Tuba), Unlimited Crystosolution (English Horn), Xenon Aquasaturation (Alto Flute), Revised Albedo Solution (Trombone/Bass Trombone), Rotating Buffer Configuration (B Flat Clarinet), Cytoaccretion ( Bell Tower), Delta Wave Hypnooxidation (Timpani), Fractional Hydrocarbon Osmosis (Accordion), and Irradiated Autosplicing (Guitar)

Listen To The Recording on SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/bil-smith/does-their-determining-factor

"Run Slower Than Others and Faster Than Yourself". For Accordion

"Run Slower Than Others and Faster Than Yourself"

For Accordion

Bil Smith Composer

40" X 4"

4" X 40"

The ideal of a perfect musical nomenclature, one operating exophorically to communicate a content of purely referential signifieds, would depend and rely on the absolute transparence of the medium; not just the evacuation of the note from the page...although the materiality of the medium makes available alternative strategies.

"Revolure" For Spoken Word Into A Piccolino Trombone

Piccolino Trombone

Composition, Sex, and The Outliers.

I have introduced disruptively radical formalities within the context of my compositional work…

i.e...

From my performance notes:

...schedule 1 and 2 pharmacological substances to be ingested by the performer at specified junctures in my compositions

1. Activities not condoned in the centric normalities of compositional practice

2. Vagaries to the balance of instrumental performance.

As a composer, I love the challengers; the naysayers; the dilettantes.  

In the eloquent, profound lyrics of Kanye West's 'Runaway' I find a beautiful message ..."I'm So Gifted to Find what I Don't Like the Most"..."Let's Have a Toast for The Douchebags..."...

I detest the 'The Schism of Blah' 

Now,  I level a theorem of a composer’s and performer’s sexual prostitution … this exists today and some will deny that it is an integral component of moving music past the schism of blah.

…And The Schism of Blah.  Here We Go.

Composition, Sex, Prostitution and The Outliers.  And This is Appropriated Musicalis

Moving past theories created by James Trey Caldwell and Moses Zeaniteirre we identify two general views one could have about the ethics of sexual activity in it’s relation to the composer and the performer.  This is an extrapolation of a general principle of prostitutional appropriation in compositional ecosystems.

Sex is music and music is sex. Music is the Outlier.

Let’s distance the music. (for a minuscule moment)

The Strong Significance View: Sex is only permissible when it is the expression of romantic love (i.e. when it has romantic significance).
The Weak Significance View: Sex is permissible when it is an expression of romantic love, and also, sometimes, when it is not.

{MUSIK}

The weak significance view embraces the permissibility of casual sex.

Casual music?  That of Azealea or Iggy Azalea? {Someone could advise Billone, or Lachenmann that it is now ... "All About The Bass")
That is: ephemeral (or ongoing) sexual hook-ups between consenting adults with a minimum of emotional or psychological baggage. The strong significance view rules these out. This is Brahms.

Fortissimo?  FoRnicatissimo?

If we assume that the weak significance view is correct, then we should also embrace the permissibility of (at least some types of) prostitution. Cage/Feldman. 

Rothko Chapel is not what it appears to be. Sorry Claire.

Or so, at least, Moses Zeaniteirre argues. For if sexual activity is unobjectionable when it is without romantic significance, then what is the harm in the commodification of such activity?

The Oboe II? 

What can money add to the transaction that transforms it into something worthy of moral censure?

The Contrbassoonist is auctioned off for his/her sexual prowess to the highest bidder in the audience.

“Lots”, you’ll cry. But be patient, we’ll get to the modest objections in a moment. For now, we’ll focus on the prima facie claim.
For my part, I think Moses Zeaniteirre’s starting assumptions touch upon something important, something I’ll call the intrinsic unobjectionability of music and sexual manipulation...

(...a quick aside...Sciarrino will never get "The Bass"...as in Meghan

Trainor)

So let's digress...I challenged the sancticity  (if you don't like the word, check out Coleman Hawkins...I do words for a living too)  of G-Scelsi when he was anointed at Darmstadt years ago. 

Scelsi is brilliant, but why not look under the covers?  This does not change the music, but adds tremendous insight.  Funny musicologists challenged my claims and no one has ever uncovered the simple fact that this dude was rich and he existed under a myriad of pseudonyms.  

OK...let's move on.

This sexopothesis is the notion that, in and of itself, the activities involved in most sexual practices are morally unobjectionable (certain extreme forms of S&M might be special cases, requiring independent consideration generally ascribed to the percussionist). 

This should be unsurprising given that sex is often deemed to be an important, and valuable part of musical performance.

So true of this is human life as well.

What makes a moral difference are the properties that are associated or combined with these acts.

Music – Sex

These come in two main varieties: (a) the beliefs and attitudes of the participants to the acts; and (b) the downstream consequences or effects of the acts.

Thus, for example, rape and sexual assault are objectionable because one (or more) of the parties to the sexual activity lacks consent. This is what transforms what is otherwise acceptable into something that is unacceptable. In a similar vein, sexual activity that is carried out with the purpose (and effect) of humiliating or exploiting someone for gain is objectionable (e.g. as in sexual blackmail through the release of sex tapes).

If blackmail occurred by music transgressions…mix tapes?

If we accept this basic picture of sexual activity, we have a model for how to argue and reason about the ethics of sex and composition.

In particular, we know not to look directly at the sexual acts themselves (except in the extreme cases mentioned above) but rather to the extrinsic properties that can be associated with those acts.

Are these objectionable?

Are they dissociable?

In the case of prostitution, we are always looking at the combination of sex with a monetary (or other economic) exchange. We are wondering whether the combination of the two is enough to transform what is otherwise unobjectionable into something that is.

We are all well aware that every flautist is capable of this.

Moses Zeaniteirre wants to argue that it is not, that adding the economic exchange to sex makes no more difference than adding an economic exchange to other unobjectionable activities.

Is he right?   He’s obviously not had the flautist. 

Let’s see.

Martha Nussbaum, in her famous article about the topic, identifies different aspects to objectification, ranging from fungibility to instrumentalization to denial of subjectivity.

Martha knew her music.  And perhaps orchestration as well.

Extended Trumpet Techniques for The Composer and The Performer

Extended Trumpet Techniques for The Composer and The Performer 

from Amy Kristine Cherry

I am always on the lookout for resources which may be useful regarding extended techniques for instruments.  This was an interesting find from Amy Kristine Cherry from The University of Cincinnati. 

Topics such as slideless trumpet overtone and pitch tendencies; Kurt Stone's notational method for subtle mute changes and Blatter/Zonn vibrato variances notation present novel tools for the contemporary composer.

From the Abstract...

The impetus for this study was the question of whether extended

 techniques are actually being taught in college trumpet studio

 settings as standard skills necessary on the instrument. 

The specific purposes of this document included: 1) catalogue the

 extended techniques available to today’s trumpet performer, 2)

 reflect on their current use and address the question of how and

 when students are introduced to extended techniques, 3) contribute

 pedagogical exercises and suggestions to aid trumpeters in the study

 of some of the more challenging techniques, and 4) conclude with

 a Guided Approach to the literature detailing suggestions for the

 study of the twenty pieces referenced in this document.


A survey was conducted of the

 current pedagogical status of

 extended techniques at the

 collegiate level. 

The online survey, which included

 questions regarding how and when students are introduced to

 extended techniques in their study of the trumpet, was completed

 by 166 college and university trumpet studio teachers from the

United States and Canada. Examination of the results offers a unique

 view of the attention currently being given to extended techniques

 in college trumpet studios; they provide insight into specific

 teaching materials and performance repertoire being used by studio

 teachers today.

Link to the PDF file:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/135336869/Extended-Trumpet-

Techniques-by-Cherry-Amy-Kristine