Gunkali (Porcelain Nights)
Michael Robinson
About this work:
Porcelain Nights was a great pleasure and challenge for me. It is based on raga Gunkali, an inspirational early morning raga that was sung by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan on one of the first Indian classical music recordings I ever heard. It remains a favorite to this day. The zither timbre employed here is a tribute to santoor artist Shivkumar Sharma. After completing the work, I was fortunate to come across his own version of Gunkali, and I subsequently decided to replace my original tanpura pattern with the one he uses to "create the atmosphere" of Gunkali.
- Michael Robinson, January 1999, Beverly Hills
© 1999 by Michael Robinson All rights reserved
Year composed: 1997
Duration: 00:30:31
Ensemble type: Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources:Live Electronic Sound Sources
Instrumentation: ,1 Computer/Laptop soloist(s), ,1 Sampler (Keyboard/Other) soloist(s)
Instrumentation notes: A computer and sound module are programmed to perform the fully notated composition in real time. Porcelain Nights (Gunkali) is voiced with samples of the following acoustical timbres using Indian tunings: zither, Latin American percussion and tanpura.