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Robin Hayward - Nouveau Saxhorn Nouveau Basse

21077-2,  CD, $14.00
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Robin Hayward
Nouveau Saxhorn Nouveau Basse

(elegy to a failed instrument)

Plateau Square; Travel Stain; Nouveau Saxhorn Nouveau Basse
Robin Hayward, microtonal tuba;
Seth Josel, guitar (Travel Stain)

Please note: This release packaging comes folded into quarters, ending up as a 5 ½” x 5 ½” brochure style booklet (liner notes inside), with the CD in a paper sleeve, all inserted into re-sealable plastic sleeves. There is no jewel case, tray card etc. There is a bar code.

The tuba player and composer Robin Hayward has introduced revolutionary playing techniques to brass instruments, initially through the discovery of the ‘noise-valve’, and later through the development of the first fully microtonal tuba in 2009. In 2012 he invented the Hayward Tuning Vine, initially as a visualisation of the harmonic space implicit within the microtonal tuba. Collaborations include such musicians as Roberto Fabbriciani and Charles Curtis, along with composers such as Christian Wolff, Alvin Lucier and Eliane Radigue.

His new Pogus release Nouveau Saxhorn Nouveau Basse features three extremely fascinating microtonal compositions by Hayward:

In 1852 Adolphe Sax developed a series of instruments he named the ‘Saxhorn nouveau basse’. The result of a radical rethinking of the valve system, each of the instrument’s six valves could only be used independently from the other valves. By avoiding valve combinations, each valve could be tuned to lower the pitch by a different tempered interval, enabling the player to play in tempered tuning. The instruments were unsuccessful. In 2009 Hayward developed the first fully microtonal tuba (together with the musical instrument manufacturers B&S.) This instrument is also equipped with six valves, but now valve combinations are an integral part of the microtonal system. Inspired by Sax’s instruments, each valve is however only used independently in the piece Nouveau Saxhorn Nouveau Basse – an elegy to Sax’s failed invention.  Six loudspeakers are distributed throughout the performance space, assuming the role of the valves of the ‘Saxhorn nouveau basse’. The tones played using each of the different valves of the microtonal tuba travel from the first to a higher numbered loudspeaker and then back again, from where they are sent to the seventh loudspeaker, which is placed backstage and acts as a metaphor for the bell of the ‘Saxhorn nouveau basse’. Due to the routing between the loudspeakers, in which each intermediate stage is rerecorded, each tone’s timbre is gradually altered as it travels through the room and becomes increasingly mixed with the room acoustic – an analogy to the effect of the valves on the tone of Sax’s instruments.

A common way of visualizing harmonic relationships is as a three-dimensional lattice. The space between prime numbers 3 and 7, lying between the horizontal and diagonal axes, is therefore depicted as a series of ascending plateaus. Plateau Square explores the harmonic space implicit within one of these plateaus, whilst projecting it onto the physical space of the performance area. Each of the four speakers of the quadraphonic sound system represents a corner of the plateau, and the microtonal tuba pitches are routed to the corresponding speakers by means of sensors attached to the valves.

In Travel Stain for guitar and microtonal F tuba, a hexagonal graphic score defines the harmonic and rhythmic framework within which musical decisions may be taken spontaneously. The six sides of the inner hexagon represent the six strings of the guitar, which are tuned in accordance with the same subharmonic series upon which the microtonal tuba tuning is based. The harmonics of each of these subharmonic partials are in turn notated within each associated outer hexagon. Starting at the lowest hexagon, the musicians explore the harmonic and rhythmic space implicit within this structure, moving gradually clockwise until all hexagons have been activated.

Review Reviews

Cat.# :: Composer(s)
21090
:: Enzo Minarelli
21089
:: Aliona Yurtsevich
21088
:: Yiorgis Sakellariou
21087
:: id m theft able
21086
:: Kasper T. Toeplitz
21085
:: Tom Hamilton
21084
:: David First
21083
:: Tomomi Adachi / Jaap Blonk / Owen F. Smith / Duane Ingalls
21082
:: Marta Sainz &
If, Bwana
21081 :: Aliona Yurtsevich
21080
:: If, Bwana
21079
:: Ulrich Krieger
21078
:: Triple Point
21077
:: Robin Hayward
21076
:: Ron Nagorcka
21075
:: Secluded Bronte
21074
:: David Rosenboom
21073
:: Peter Batchelor
21072 :: Alvin Lucier
21071 :: Lou Cohen
21070 :: Brian Chase
21069 :: Jerry Hunt
21068 :: If, Bwana
21067 :: Jorge Antunes
21066 :: Enzo Minarelli
21065 :: Tensions At The Vanguard
21064 :: Frances White
21063 :: Noah Creshevsky
21062 :: If,Bwana/Trio Scordatura
21061 :: Nate Wooley
21060 :: Leo Kupper
21059 :: Pauline Oliveros/ Francisco López/Doug Van Nort/Jonas Braasch
21058 :: Philip Corner
21057 :: Alvin Lucier
21056 :: Dimitri Voudouris
21055 :: Birds + Machines
21054 :: Kiva
21053 :: César Bolaños
21052 :: Lionel Marchetti & Olivier Capparos
21051 :: Tom Hamilton/
Bruce Eisenbeil
21050 :: Source Records 1-6
21049 :: Noah Creshevsky/ If,Bwana
21048 :: Simon Wickham-Smith
21047 :: Kenneth Gaburo
21046 :: If, Bwana (Al Margolis)
21045 :: Annea Lockwood
21044 :: Felix Werder
21043 :: Dimitri Voudouris
21042 :: Nick Didkovsky
21041 :: Montreal Sound Matter
21040 :: Anla Courtis
21039 :: Crawling with Tarts
21038 :: If, Bwana (Al Margolis)
21037 :: Hans Otte
21036 :: DIY Canons
21035 :: Band/Myers
21034 :: Chris Brown
21033 :: Tom Johnson
21032 :: Roger Reynolds
21031 :: Trios - Collaboration
21030 :: Beth Anderson
21029 :: Hamilton, Silverton, Margolis
21028 :: Warren Burt
21027 :: Jorge Antunes
21026 :: David Dunn
21025 :: Roger Reynolds
21024 :: If, Bwana (Al Margolis)
21023 :: Pauline Oliveros
21022 :: David Rosenboom
21021 :: Ross Bolleter
21020 :: Kenneth Gaburo
21019 :: If, Bwana (Al Margolis)
21018 :: Leo Kupper
21017 :: Robert Rutman
21016 :: Matthew Ostrowski
21015 :: various
21014 :: Rune Linblad
21013 :: If, Bwana (Al Margolis)
21012 :: Pauline Oliveros
21011 :: Rune Linblad
21010 :: If, Bwana (Al Margolis)
21009 :: Leo Kupper
21008 :: various
21007 :: If, Bwana (Al Margolis)
21006 :: Trigger
21005 :: Big City Orchestra
IB :: If,Bwana
FPM :: Frog Peak Music
CUE :: C.U.E. Records
SOP :: Sound of Pig Cassettes
ANTS :: Ants (Italian Label)
ANIMUL :: Ned Rothenberg
HOMLER :: Anna Homler
OAKSMUS :: oaksmus (German Label)
GD STEREO :: Geoff Dugan
ANOMALOUS :: Anomalous Records
NONSEQUITUR :: Nonsequitur

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