Crystal Oscillation
Subtitle: For Soloist and Concert Band
General Info
Year: 2022
Duration: c. 3:00
Difficulty: V-VI (solo); II+ (ensemble) (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: M.O.T.I.F.
Cost: Score and Parts (digital) - $60.00 | Score Only (digital) - $35.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Solo Baritone Saxophone
Solo Euphonium
Solo Tuba
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II (optional)
Bassoon (optional)
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Brake Drum
- Chimes
- Cowbell
- Drum Set
- Egg Shaker
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Temple Blocks
- Whip
- Vibraphone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
When playing any type of video game, you've probably experienced at some point glitches, crashes, or even the game itself slowing down when a number of events occur instantaneously onscreen. Nowadays, these bugs can typically be fixed with either hardware or firmware updates. Back in the 1990s, however, it wasn't as easy to accomplish for even the most famous video game consoles of the era.
The SEGA Genesis (or Mega Drive, depending on where you live) includes in its hardware a crystal oscillator, a type of electronic circuit that has the ability to create electrical signals that can maintain a constant frequency by relying upon a vibrating crystal's mechanical resonance. What makes the Genesis stand out from its predecessors of the time, however, is that its hardware was intentionally built to be able to run on television sets in both America and Europe.
SEGA's hardware designers for the Genesis (and subsequently video game developers for the console) had the ability to output games from NTSC resolution (used in Japan and the majority of North America, with games running at 60 hz, or 30 frames per second) to full PAL resolution (used in much of Europe, with games running at 50 hz, or 25 frames per second). The Genesis is built with a custom Video Display Processor Chip that can switch between NTSC and PAL resolutions -- the main difference is which crystal oscillator frequency is used, with PAL models using a slightly smaller oscillator frequency than NTSC models.
Unfortunately, Genesis games ported to PAL resolution were purposefully slowed down in order to accommodate these differences and avoid major issues with performance, timing, and coding. This resulted in typically slower game speed (especially if multiple actions and effects instantaneously occurred onscreen), choppy frame rates, and letterbox effects if the screen resolution was left unchanged during the conversion process.
Crystal Oscillation creates an imaginary scenario of a major boss battle during a fast-paced video game suffering from these notoriously frustrating hardware issues, to the exasperation and annoyance of its soloist, who just wants to play the game.
My sincerest gratitude to Jonathan Steltzer and the Wayne County High School band program for commissioning this piece.
- Program Note by composer
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Media
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Wayne County (Jesup, Ga.) High School Symphonic Band (Jonathan Steltzer, conductor; Hannah Lantrip, tuba) - 17 May 2022 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Anthem for All (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2023)
- Comets Ablaze! (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- Dancing Fire (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2016/2020)
- Ember Skies (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2020/2022)
- The Floodgates of the Sky (Flex instrumentation) (2016/2021)
- The Golden Pier (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
- The Great River Rapid Chase (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
- Havana (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2018/2020)
- Kaleidoscopic Dances (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2021)
- Lightning Round (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2022)
- Meditation and Hymn to Nature (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
- Mt. Wrightson March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2019/2023)
- O rose of May (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2018/2020)
- Raindrops in an endless sea of stars (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Seven Islands (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- Splendid Ridges (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- The Straits of Mackinac (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- To Right Our Wrongs (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2021)
All Wind Works
- Anthem for All (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2023)
- Anthem for All (2020)
- Anthem for Doomed Youth (2018)
- Aurora (as arranger) (2021/2023)
- Autumn Verses (as arranger) (2023)
- Celestial Voyage (2015)
- Comets Ablaze! See: The Grand Ledge Triptych
- Concerto for Double Bass and Chamber Ensemble (2018)
- Crystal Oscillation (2022)
- Dancing Fire (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2016/2020)
- Ecstatic Samba (as arranger) (2017/2022)
- Electric City (as arranger) (2019/2022)
- Ember Skies (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2020/2022)
- enter data sequence (as arranger) (2022)
- The Essence of Being (as arranger) (2021/2022)
- Flightless Bird (as arranger) (2021/2022)
- The Floodgates of the Sky (tr. Collins) (2016/2020)
- The Floodgates of the Sky (Flex instrumentation) (2016/2021)
- The Golden Pier. See: The Michigan Triptych
- The Great River Rapid Chase. See: The Michigan Triptych
- Havana (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2018/2020)
- Hilltop Run (2022)
- Kaleidoscopic Dances (2020)
- Kaleidoscopic Dances (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2021)
- Lightning Round (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2022)
- Meditation and Hymn to Nature (2021/2023)
- Meditation and Hymn to Nature (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
- The Grand Ledge Triptych
- Splendid Ridges (2020)
- Splendid Ridges (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- Seven Islands (2020)
- Seven Islands (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- Comets Ablaze! (2020)
- Comets Ablaze! (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- The Michigan Triptych
- The Great River Rapid Chase (2018)
- The Great River Rapid Chase (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
- The Golden Pier (2019)
- The Golden Pier (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
- The Straits of Mackinac (2017)
- The Straits of Mackinac (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- Midnight Skyline (2019). See also: Of Day and Night
- Mt. Wrightson March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2019/2023)
- O rose of May (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2018/2020)
- Nature's Light (2019)
- Pumpkin Madness (2023)
- Raindrops in an endless sea of stars (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Seven Islands. See: The Grand Ledge Triptych
- Solace in the Wind (as arranger) (2020/2023)
- Splendid Ridges. See: The Grand Ledge Triptych
- The Straits of Mackinac. See: The Michigan Triptych
- Summertime Echoes (2019)
- Symphony No. 2. See: Pumpkin Madness
- Tango Oscuro (as arranger) (2020/2022)
- Tombstone Galop (as arranger) (2021/2022)
- The Undiscovered Country (2018)
- Volcanic Interruptions (as arranger) (2021/2022)
- A Wild Christmas Nightcap (2020)
- with hope and resilience (2022/2023)