Isaac Schankler
(2011)
page last updated Fri, 30 Sep 2011, 5:36pm PDT
Description
Titanic is about icebergs and other big things.
Keywords: text score, experimental, silence, stochastic, celine dion, icebergs
Duration: 194 minutes
# of Performers: variable
Materials / Instrumentation / Performers
stopwatches, portable audio players, headphones or earbuds, any sound sources
Files
Score (PDF)
Timeline generator (HTML)
Time-stretched recording of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" (MP3)
Score / Notes
Titanic
by Isaac Schankler
for any number of musicians
Materials each player will need:
-A stopwatch
-A portable audio playing device (with at least 3-4 hours of battery life)
-Earbuds/headphones
-Time-stretched recording of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" (available here)
-Unique, randomly generated timeline (available here)
-A sound source (e.g. musical instrument, voice, object, etc.)
Instructions for performance:
Titanic is about 194 minutes long. Each player performs for a total of 5 minutes and 11 seconds. This time span is randomly split up and distributed over the total time of the piece. (A player may use the random generation algorithm provided, or their own method.) Each player should have a unique timeline generated in this manner. (The more players there are, the better, though the piece can be legitimately performed with just one player.)
Before the piece begins, players should be wearing their earbuds/headphones, with the provided recording cued up on their audio playing devices.
To begin the piece, players coordinate the starting of stopwatches. At 0:05, players begin listening to the recording. (The volume of the recording should be loud enough to heard clearly by the player, but quiet enough to be inaudible to the audience.)
At the sections of the timeline designated for each player to perform, the player may:
a) Emulate the recording as closely as they can using their sound source, or;
b) Emulate an element of the recording as closely as they can using their sound source.
Certain dynamic constraints apply:
a) Each player must enter quietly (niente to piano).
b) After entering, the player may crescendo, but an individual player's volume must never exceed mezzo-piano.
c) Each player must exit quietly (niente to piano). If necessary, diminuendo to get there.
In other words, each timeline segment should follow this contour, more or less:
n to p (<) ppp to mp (>) n to p
At 3 hours, 14 minutes and 42 seconds, the piece ends. This should be communicated to the audience with a clear, non-musical signal (e.g. turning on the house lights, players standing, change in posture, et cetera).
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