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| První Kniha Duration = ci. 2 hours |
drsných tanců od Dana Senna An audiobook of 122 violin improvisations in 8 Chapters and an Epilogue. Works best in Google Chrome. |
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| The First Book of Rugged Dances
(2024) was realized using the childhood violin of Elayne Bender Senn purchased in 1929 from who-knows-where in Watertown, Wisconsin, USA. It was later played by her oldest daughter, Carol, also a violinist, and then presented to her youngest son, me, many years later. These improvisations were recorded in my Beaverton, Oregon studio in 2009 and further processed 15 years later at Studio FMEra in Watertown. They are performed using pulled nylon lines attached to key points on the violin as demonstrated in the photo above. [See The Second Book of Rugged Dances (2024) that features improvisations on a prepared contrabass.] There are 13 sets presented here in eight chapters plus an epilogue. Each pulled string improvisation uses 2-4 strings of the violin tuned to the same pitch (induces competing resonances), an techique explored in my contrabass improvs of the late 1990s. Special handmade contact mics were used. The recordings were intended as 2nd generation sound sources for live performances or to accompanying dance or experimental videos. Still, they were concieved as complete, spontaneous compositions presented as such for the first time here in a format that invites further recombining, and thus, in a secondary performance role, again. It is therefore acceptable to present improvised performances directly from this webpage. The idea for this "Book" came after the Echofluxx 23 media festival in Prague and while collaborating with the Czech violinist David Danel, a gifted and versatile performer of traditional, experimental and improvisational music. David's work reminded me of these works and my past improvisational studio sessions. Prior to this festival encounter, I had hardly thought myself an "improvisor" in the common experimental music sense even if my performative output had depended so on improvisation since the mid-1970s. The Epilogue sound files were likely improvised as test files in preparation for the Chapter sound files and then set aside. These have not been heard before this page was created—a "prelude" now acting as a "postlude". These sound files to the right are not the highest resolution mp3 files but are satisfactory for demonstration and rehearsal. The original files are in .wav format and available from rakutoo (at) me dot com. The play strip format to the right as it, agian, provids the option to hear each track alone or in combination with others. Not all browsers and computeres allow this. It may be better to use launch clips in software like Ableton Live. It is also acceptable to insert pauses in the files to make room for live performers (vocalists, dancers, instrumentalists, speakers, improvisors.) DS012524 Dan Senn (Prague-Watertown) is an intermedia artist working in music composition and production, kinetic sound sculpture, experimental and documentary film. He has been a professor of music and art in the United States and Australia and travels internationally as a lecturer, performer and installation artist. He lives in Prague where he directs the Echofluxx festivals, and Watertown, Wisconsin, the USA, with his partner-collaborator, Caroline Senn. Dan's work moves freely between expressive extremes and languages depending upon the aesthetic joust at hand. Dan is cofounder of Roulette Intermedium in New York City, Cascadia Composers of Portland Oregon, and the Echofluxx media festivals in Prague. (read more). Dan Senn (Prague-Watertown) je intermediální umělec působící v oblasti hudební kompozice a produkce, kinetické zvukové sochy, experimentálního a dokumentárního filmu. Byl profesorem hudby a umění ve Spojených státech a Austrálii a cestuje do zahraničí jako lektor, performer a umělec instalací. Žije v Praze, kde řídí festivaly Echofluxx, a Watertown, Wisconsin, USA, se svou partnerkou-spolupracovnicí Caroline Senn. Danova tvorba se volně pohybuje mezi expresivními extrémy a jazyky v závislosti na aktuálním estetickém souboji. Dan je spoluzakladatelem Roulette Intermedium v New Yorku, Cascadia Composers z Portlandu Oregon a mediálních festivalů Echofluxx v Praze. (Přečtěte si více). |
Chapter One |
Chapter Two |