On the ontology of sound in multidimensional space

orator and mixed instrumentation, 2021 

    Variable: These program notes should be an abstract or summary of whatever paper/speech/monologue/etc you choose to use as your score.

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Context

This piece is a parody of the typical humanities paper presentation.

The actual score you read from is a text of your choice, likely pared down so that reading it only takes 7' or so to get through. (A page and a half, single spaced, is a good starting point.) You are highly encouraged to plagiarize the text you choose, but the title of the piece should remain On the ontology... (etc) as above.

Following that, the ensemble over-analyzes the chosen text, determining which phonemes, words, phrases, and/or concepts will cause which degree of sound to happen (or not). At least one phrase, which should appear more than once in the score, should be chosen as something the audience can also participate in. See the performance excerpt as an example. More guidance is available in the score.

In the initial performance, the text used was "Peripersonal perception in action," by Frédérique de Vignemont. The audience participation phrase was "peripersonal space."