129 lines
5.7 KiB
HTML
129 lines
5.7 KiB
HTML
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<html>
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<body style="width:800px;">
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<h1>P A R A L L A X I S</h1>
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<h2>PERFORMANCE NOTES</h2>
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<h3>FORCES ========</h3>
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The score for parallaxis is in four parts and can be played by any
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four melodic instruments, multiple quartets may perform simultaneously
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under the direction of one or more directors.
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<h3>NOTATION ======== </h3>
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Parallaxis uses a combination of graphical, and more traditional
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proportion style notation. There are three lines to the stave
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representing the registral areas low, middle and high. The size of the
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noteheads and thickness of lines represent dynamics - small note heads
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are played most quietly, larger noteheads are louder.
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There is very little traditional rhythmic notation, instead the score
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adopts a "scrolling score" paradigm. The score appears from the right
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of the screen and scrolls in a leftwards direction.
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In the center of the screen are the shaded areas called the playzones,
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in the center of these playzones is a vertical green line representing
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the playhead, as the music passes over the playhead it is executed by
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the performer.
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Each of the parts plays back at a slightly different speed from the
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others causing the parts to constantly shift in and out of phase with
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one another.
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<h3>SCREEN SCORE / PROJECTION ========</h3>
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No special software is needed to view the screen score for
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Parallaxix. It is written as a web app and runs in a web browser; for
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best results use Google Chrome, Safari or Firefox. Avoid Internet
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Explorer if you use windows.
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The Score/s may be projected using a digital projector plugged into a
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laptop. These projections maybe visible to both musicians and
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audience. Optionally each member of the ensemble reads the score from
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a laptop placed on a music stand. This maybe preferable where unusual
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spatial arrangments of the musicians is prefered. The web based score
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is designed in such a way that everyone connected to that page will
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see the same thing - and that any controls touched on the directors
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laptop will controls the scores in front of all the musicians.
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<h3>DURATION ======== </h3> Each of the parts is cyclical, looping constantly
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with the tail joining up with the head of the music seamlessly. This
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means the piece is of indeterminate duration, but given the amount of
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material presented in the score i would suggest between 8 and 12
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minutes as an appropriate performance length.
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At the bottom left of the screen is a timer indicating how long has
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elapsed since the start of the piece - this is your reference for when
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to finish the performance
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For example the ensemble may decide collectively before a performance
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that after 8 minutes on performer stops holding a sustained note and
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each 20 seconds after that another performer also stops holding a
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sustained note. When all performers have stopped following the score
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and are sustaining a pitch they may graudually diminuendo to nothing
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and the piece is over.
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<h3>DIFFERENT POSSIBLE VERSIONS ========</h3> There are a number of different
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strategies for making a piece using this score but there are two
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fundementally different approaches: solosit recording multitrack tape
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part and live ensemble version.
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<h3>THE ROLE OF THE DIRECTOR ======== </h3> In the Ensemble version there is
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another element - the role of the conductor/director. There need not
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be a director of a performance - the score may simply be followed as
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it appears with the different speed lines shifting phase with one
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another. However, if a director is involved in a performance their
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role is to make live interventions to the flow of the perfomance. A
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director can alter the speeds of the individual parts using the + -
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minus buttons seen on the left and right of the screen as well as
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pausing individual parts by clicking on the playzones or depressing
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and releasing the number keys 1 through 4, or the ensemble as a whole
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using the full stop space bar keys. (click the help link for a full
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list if directors keybindings)
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<h3>MULTIPLE QUARTETS - MUTLIPLE SCORES ========</h3> Also, if a director is
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involved the size of the ensemble may double and be divided into two
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groups. In this case the director can use two laptops to control two
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groups, each group playing different instances of the score. Here the
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two groups ensemble will slip in and out of phase with one another the
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same way as is happening internally within the individual groups! The
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number of groups playing for independant scores need not be limited to
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two. One director can manipulate as many groups as deemed appropriate
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for the performance - there may also be more than one director.
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<h3>SPATIAL POISTIONING OF MUSICIANS AND ENSEMBLES</h3>
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TODO
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<h3>SETTING THE INITIAL SPEEDS AND STARTING LOCATIONS ======== </h3>
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OPTIONAL:
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Each version can be made unique by setting new starting points for
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each of the instrumental parts, as the score can be seen as a loop
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there is no fixed starting point so new ones can be choosen for each
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performance. Also the speed relationships between the parts may also
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be changed. At the moment this involves changing the values in the
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parallaxis.js file. TODO - add this facility to the web interface
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<h3>THE SCORE SERVER ========</h3>
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The score server is currently hosted in spc.org Greenwich, London
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and can be accessed here: http://nodescore.kiben.net:8888/parallaxis.html
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A Rapsberry Pi based score server is available as both hardware and a
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flashable disk image, this is ideal when no network connection is
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avalable in the concert space. The hardware version can be requested
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for loan from the Contemporary Music Center of Ireland. The disk image
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maybe downloaded from http://rob.kibe.net/parallaxis.html
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<h4>The Server Kit contains:</h4>
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One Raspberry Pi embedded Linux computer
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SD Card containting custom operating system and score server.
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Wireless and wired Network switch to create the PARALLAXIS access point.
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</body>
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</html>
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