Natural Behaviour
Richard Carrick
About this work:
first performance by David Shively. Natural Behaviour is part of a series of works that focuses primarily on two aspects of music; a vivid and rich sonic/timbral identity, and an organic, linear relationship of musical materials. Although the latter aspect is written into the score, the former aspect is left almost entirely up to the performer. Both through the choice of instruments and general interpretive decisions, the sonic aspect of this piece will be as much of an exposure of the performer’s sensitivities as my own.
The notation of this score could be considered a performers score more than a sounding score. Since the instruments are not preassigned, the score allows for some flexibility in performance (namely trill durations, trill speeds, tempos) to enhance the unique qualities of the chosen instrumental setup.
-Instruments-
This piece is scored for 12 instruments chosen by the player, plus a bongo and a small, damped tamtam. The 12 instruments could be considered as two related, 7 higher note and 5 lower note instrumental groups (see layout below). They should blend together to form a continuous and linear sound, and must follow three limitations.
1. the family (glass-G, wood-W, or metal-M) of each instrument is assigned:
#7-M, #6-W, #5-M, #4-M, #3-G, #2-M, #1-G,
#12-M, #11-W, #10-M, #9-W, #8-W,
2. the pitch interval between any two adjacent instruments (including 7-8) should not be larger than a minor third.
3. All instruments must have the potential of blending dynamically and timbrally with each other. From high to low, the timbres can get progressively get richer, but no instrument should sound out of place compared to surrounding instruments. They should all have the same, very short decay time.
One exception to this is the metal instrument #12. If so desired, it can blend more with the tamtam than with the previous 11 instruments, or it can be louder than the previous 11 instruments (again, blending in dynamics with the tamtam).
The damped tamtam can be replaced with another instrument (such as a very loud tambourine or damped cymbal), but should be timbrally richer and dynamically as full as the 12 instruments, and should blend with instrument #12 and/or the bongo.
If either the soft dynamics called for in the score are not attainable due to instrumental choices, it is best to perform at a dynamic level suitable to the instruments (i.e. loud) while reinterpreting the soft dynamics as gesture.
Version: 2004
Year composed: 2004
Duration: 00:09:00
Ensemble type: Solo instrument, non-keyboard:Percussion (General)
Instrumentation: 1 Percussion (General)