Smile and Nod Knowingly
marc faris
About this work:
The title refers to a conversation I had with one of my colleagues about a common practice among academics, especially when we’re put on the spot with a question we don’t really know how to answer. “I hate the way we get into this habit of smiling and nodding knowingly,” she said. “It becomes a veil for honest, open dialogue about the limits of our knowledge.” (Or something like that – memory’s an odd thing.)
In composing Smile and Nod Knowingly, I was aiming to capitalize on many of pulsoptional’s strengths – especially the group’s capacity for managing complex superimpositions and juxtapositions of rhythmic activity – while also pushing us into new musical turf. I was also interested in experimenting with an almost imperceptible mutation of musical material. Thus, the first two-thirds of the piece is dominated by a busy but relatively quiet and static texture of polymetric patterns in the winds, guitar, piano, and rhythm section; the music’s evolution is steady and rigorous, but intentionally subliminal. This flat landscape is intermittently shattered by jagged outbursts that ultimately overtake the proceedings. A brief moment of musical focus – obliquely referencing drum-and-bass – passes quickly, and the piece draws to a quiet, unsettled close.
Is there a connection between the title I chose and the music I wrote? In answer to that, let me just smile and nod knowingly.
Year composed: 2008
Duration: 09:30:60
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 6-9 players
Instrumentation: 1 English Horn, 1 Alto Saxophone, 1 Drum Set, 1 Piano, 1 Electric Bass, 1 Electric Guitar
Instrumentation notes: The English horn, alto saxophone and piano should be amplified to balance with the electric guitar, electric bass and drum set. An electric piano, synthesizer or other amplified keyboard instrument with a pianistic attack/decay sound may be used in place of an acoustic piano.
In addition, the amplified sound of the English horn and alto saxophone are run through delay lines. The delay set-up requires tempo control and on/off control. There are several viable options for this requirement, from standalone delay pedals to computer applications. In pulsoptional’s performances, we used a simple Max/MSP patch, which can be run on any computer; the patch and set-up instructions are available from the composer on request. If another set-up is used, keep the following specifications in mind:
(1) The delay speed must be controllable during the performance, either by the performers or by a separate engineer, using a tap-tempo control. The duration of the delay loop is specified throughout the score (for example, 5 quarter notes in mm. 4-95, 6 quarter notes in mm. 96-117, etc.).
(2) The delay set-up must have a decay bypass, so that the delayed signal does not abruptly stop when the delay is turned off. In other words, when the delay is turned off, the delayed signal should continue to sound and loop out.
(3) The initial loop of the delayed signal should be set to approximately the same volume as the wind instruments’ dry signal. After that, the delayed signal should taper out fairly rapidly (no more than about 3 additional cycles).
(4) The delayed signals should come from the same approximate “location” in the PA system as the instruments’ dry signals.
Any questions about these technical specifications, or any other aspect of the piece, can be directed to the composer at farism@ecu.edu.