THIRD EYE ORCHESTRA WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT
Originally inspired by a performance of the David Murray Bigband conducted by Craig Harris at the Knitting Factory some time in the 90s, Hans Tammen creates open form multi-movement pieces with a large variety of ensembles for over a decade. All About Jazz called the music “nothing short of breathtaking”, and “a masterpiece of musical evocation”.
If you are moderately comfortable reading a score (we can mail it beforehand if you sign up early), play any kind of brass or reeds, keyboards, voice, string or percussion instrument as well as electronics, and are willing to explore new horizons, this workshop may be for you. Here’s what I will work on:
- creating complex rhythms by juxtaposing patterns of varying lengths and meters
- modulating from one meter to the next
- rhythmic phase techniques
- polytonality by juxtaposing patterns from different keys
- extreme dynamic changes
- including electronics into a large ensemble context.
- soloing with an emphasis on anything besides pitch, on a modal or sound-oriented background.
- working in an open form context, i.e. with a conductor whose next move is unpredictable
What to bring:
- your instrument, whatever it is: brass or reeds, keyboards, voice, string or percussion instruments as well as electronics. Oboe? Theremin? English Horn? Contrabassclarinet? Sopranino Saxophone? Shenai? Toy Piano? I had them all.
- music stand. We don’t have any.
- your favorite mike if you want to. Otherwise we have mikes and mike stands.
- if you play bass or guitar, bring your amp. Bring a volume pedal, since I control the dynamics with hand signs while you’re playing.
- your friends to come at 5pm to cheer you on at the performance
Your skills:
- you need to be moderately comfortable reading a score. There are different levels in the score, from intermediate to advanced, and you may even tell me (!) which one works best for you.
- a few years experience on your instrument. This is for at least intermediate players, since e.g. you need to be able to keep a 5/4 pattern going.
- willing to take on a solo, even a short one. You will never get a solo on a part you’re not comfortable with.
Location:
Downtown Manhattan at South Street Seaport, corner of South and Fulton Streets. You can’t miss it, it looks like a gigantic white sugarcube.
Timeline:
- 3pm: we will meet for the workshop, where we will go through the score, and we experiment with the material to find out what works best for the performers. You need to be on time at 3pm!
- 5pm: the public performance of this orchestra. You have to attend both workshop and performance, of course. Invite your friends, so they can brag later about it.
- [Just FYI there is also a performance of my regular Third Eye Orchestra later that night at 8pm.]
Sign Up:
I need to know who’s coming, to have the score ready. Send me an email
Links:
Workshop page: here
My regular ensemble: here
Third Eye Orchestra on SoundCloud: here
Sugarcube series: here
Additional Evening Performance
Come to the evening performance of the regular Third Eye Orchestra at 8pm, with Shelley Hirsch (voice), Matthew Ostrowski (electronics), Mari Kimura (vio), Sarah Bernstein (vio), Jason Hwang (vla), Tomas Ullrich (cel), Briggan Krauss (as, bari), Ned Rothenberg (cl, bcl), Michael Lytle (cl, bcl, cbcl), Chris McIntyre (tb), Shoko Nagai (kb, synth), Josh Sinton (bari, cbcl), Satoshi Takeishi (perc), Hans Tammen (composing, live arranging, concept).