THE BLINDFOLDED PIECES

Rehearsals:

Movement Exercise No. 1 for Blindfolded Ensemble


Movement Exercise No. 2 for Blindfolded Ensemble



I have started a series of compositions called Movement Exercises for Blindfolded Ensemble. (The first one came over the summer in preparation for a concert in July 2010)

The core of the work is about unifying collective energy and moving it throughout an ensemble in real time - building the ability to communicate with each other without overt signaling.....namely, being able to make collective group/musical decisions based solely on energy conduction. Yes, being able to communicate with each other using only sound and energy.

This is something that naturally happens when improvising with a group, but I wanted to try to find a way to practice, and heighten a few particular principles....

There's this magical thing that happens when you're really connecting musically, or when you play with people you connect with personally - you can feel internal/external things moving in the ensemble - the energy. Like if things are building and a soloist is about to break through to be featured, you can feel it happening - or about to happen - the build up. Another example is when everyone collectively feels than an improvisation is done and over and they let it end. Other more subtle motions are happening all the time - like when the band crescendos together, no one is specifically directing this to happen, the composition just asks to move there and the musicians follow suit. There are millions of examples.

The Blindfolded Pieces are set up to provide a form to practice moving energy throughout an ensemble.

By restricting sight, our other senses are heightened and we learn to focus on our connection to each other in new ways. We feel each other and hear each other in new ways. The physicality of the sound is magnified and we begin to communicate more clearly with our intention/energy.

Here's some crappy images of the scores from my phone. (I will scan them and post eventually, once there are more in the collection)

Exercise No. 1













Exercise No. 2