Bryan Reeder

GEOMETRIC MUSIC SERIES

This series develops alternate ways of notating music, drawing mainly upon geometry. Though the pieces can be performed, the work itself lies conceptually somewhere between music and printed forms, figuring more as maps of possible musical worlds. The series begins with Music for Four or More Instruments in which the musical direction become visualized as elliptical orbits. In the Transparent Score and Kinetic Score, parts are placed on top one another using acetate transparencies. Notes for an Orchestra Piece begins more of a formalization of previous ideas. In this composition, shapes overlay shifting pitch matrices and undergo geometric transformations such as rotation, translation, and dilation. Pitch class and rhythm are determined by the location of the vertices of each shape. Movable Music is an approximation of the same idea, but with the addition of movable overlays that can be used to change the form of the piece. Timbral Transformations is a composition that concentrates on sound at its most basic level of construction. By visually illustrating the intensity of a fundamental and a variety of harmonic and inharmonic overtones, a sound is created and sustained as it morphs into and out of definite pitch, transforming its timbre over given periods of time. Catalog of Worlds continues the program of Notes for an Orchestra Piece, though it is more rigorous in its construction. It is divided into four books, each book beginning with a constellation. The shapes are put through series of transformations that determine the visual and musical development. It is conceived as a musical ontology of sorts. Its creation, as evident in its appearance, was slow and tedious, reminding one of the discipline required in organizing and cataloging a world. Here it is presented in its book form, as it was printed in a limited edition by Small Editions.

MUSIC FOR FOUR OR MORE INSTRUMENTS

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