Dimension

From Wind Repertory Project
JoAnne Harris

JoAnne Harris


General Info

Year: 2021
Duration: 5:00-7:00
Difficulty: III-1/2 (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: …And We Were Heard
Cost: Score and Parts – Consortium membership ($200.00); consortial exclusivity until May 1, 2022


Instrumentation (Flexible)

Any instrumentation, from duet on up.

Includes a computer program generating two-dimensional fractal visualizations of the ensemble’s performance in real time, which can be projected during performances.


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that continue in the same pattern, regardless of scale: like frost, fish scales and plant venation. Fractal relationships in music can be seen in the patterning of sound waves. In Dimension, real time animation converts your ensemble’s sound into 2D fractals able to be visually projected. Through collaboration with a graphic designer and a researcher in the energy industry, this piece of music informs the visual fractal produced in real time, so that each visual instantiation of the piece is different, depending on particular nuances of the ensemble playing it. Dimension is a piece for an ensemble of your choosing. You can arrange it in many configurations, from a solo to a full wind ensemble. Members of the consortium will receive a custom arrangement after consulting with the composer.

The composer writes:

My friend Stuart Harwood keeps a bot on Twitter @factaladay. For years, I’ve enjoyed scrolling by his artistic output of computer-generated fractals. Over dinner in Jersey City (where we were neighbors), we wondered what would happen if we wrote MIDI into the code. I laughed as Stuart assessed our early tests to be “not quite noise… but not quite music either”. We decided to work in the order direction to see if music could influence code, while focusing on self-repeating structures – a foundational element of fractals, coding, and my penchant for minimalism. Dimension is a product of our ongoing exploration between the world of fractal dimension (a place in computation that lies between 2D and 3D) and music. I’m quite taken with the idea that even when you enact a perfect scaling of a figure, you’ll most often land somewhere unevenly between 1 and 2. The implication that unevenness and outliers necessary in creating something beautiful comforts me! Much like a fractal in nature, the piece is designed to reflect an idea of perfect imperfection. Katie Han’s gift for real time animation lends even more magic to this space we’ve created to explore.

- Program Note from publisher


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Randolph-Macon College (Ashland, Va.) Ensemble (Brian Coffill, conductor) – 25 February 2022 (CBDNA 2022 Southern Conference, Columbia, S.C.)
  • Hartwick College (Oneonta, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew Pease, conductor; Julia Butts, piano; Stuart Harwood, fractal bot; Katie Han, animation) - 18 May 2021
  • Spring Lake Park (Minn.) High School Wind Ensemble (Nora Tycast, conductor) - 3 June 2021 *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources