BREATH TAKING: 2024 Duration 12'30"	HYDRATION + FRACTURES by Dan Senn for Soprano, Fixed Video and Stereo Sound
BREATH TAKING: Hydration + Fractures, in two sections is for soprano (actor-singer), fixed audio (stereo) and video (single channel). The live notated parts are wide ranging with simple modal singing and humming, mixed with extreme theatrical gesturing and spoken utterances. The performance setup uses a back-projected 16x9 screen or a ceiling and front-projected screen to avoid casting shadows. The speaker system is to the left and right of the screen and may include a subwoofer. The soprano, in black apparel, is positioned on a stool, with head set mic preferably but a standard vocal mic on a stand is acceptable. The performer should be positioned on a stool to the far, far left and in front of the screen with their mic mixed to the center of the stereo field. A small music stand should be used.   BREATH TAKING, the live parts, is a work of psychological-theatrical extremes and when presented “full tilt”, may cause discomfort in some patrons, laughter in others. The video does not overpower the live parts with the fixed audio tracks acting to binding these together. The sound source for the prerecorded Hydration part of the work is a prepared violin nominally in E-flat pure minor. The sound source for the Fractures section are two found objects that strongly hint at A pure minor. The tritone difference between the first and second section is by chance.  The video source is a 47 minute recording  of unflowered Morning Glories hydrating on a hot summer day after a near-death experience from a lack of water. The animated lettering of this plant name (section 2) has been changed to its synonym "mourning”.	The rehearsal materials... below enable the performer to learn and develop the work in a private setting at one's finger tips, the backing sounds in various forms. These are presented System by System, Page by Page, Section by Section, and then for the entire work all in mp3 format. The full piece with video and sound is at a 720 resolution for rehearsal only. Performances will require a capable audio technician to set balances between the soprano and fixed audio parts while using the 1080 version of the projected video + Backing Video with Sounds for entire piece 720, 16;9 vs. PDF of the entire score. Backing Sounds System by System 1a = Page 1, top system... 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d | 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e | 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d | 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d | 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d | 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d | 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e Backing Sounds Page by Page Page 1, Page 2, | Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7 Backing Sounds Section by Section Hydration, this version only, is missing first 8 seconds. Section 1, Hydration Section 2, Fractures Backing Sounds only for entire piece	The simplist rehearsal setup... is for the soprano to play the backing sounds over a small sound bar while reading the score either printed on paper or on another flat device. Again, the backing audio serves as a link to the video, enabling rehearsals without the video. An exception applies for the first section, Hydration, where the first 8 seconds of titling silence are excluded from the rehearsal sound track, the System by System (1a) version. Also, in all of the video versions, there is a subtle visual cue (two 8th note beat movements in the image at upper right corner of screen) occurring 36 seconds into the video initiating the modal singing. The notation for this work comprises waveform photos of the backing audio and a five-line staff added just below in most instances. Notes, rhythms, spoken utterance and instructions are hand drawn onto this template using a computer stylus pen. Contact the composer for a 1080, 16x9 performance copy of video with sound. 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 media festivals, and Watertown, Wisconsin, the USA. 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).