New directions in old-time music.

My training was primarily in classical music. I learned to play traditional music without reference to my classical training. I resorted to my knowledge of notation and theory only when I couldn't figure out the melody or chord progressions. Now that I am unable to play a musical instrument (with the exception of harmonica), I use a computer as a prosthetic device. I have also come full circle: traditional music appears (to me) to be a great resource for manipulation in the arena occupied by classical composers and experimental sound designers. There's plenty of precedent for this: in the classical world, Copland, Thomson, and Harris made much use of the material on Library of Congress recordings, Ma and colleagues have fused classical, New Age, and traditional Appalachian music into a highly marketable product, and the Horseflies, led by classical and jazz violinist Judy Hyman have been producing music that crosses aesthetic and cultural boundaries for many years.

Here are the cover graphics to my new CD.

NEW DIRECTIONS IN OLD-TIME MUSIC

Notes:

Traditional instrumental and vocal music from the Southern Appalachians, or “Old Time Music”, is used as a point of departure for this collection. The melodic, rhythmic, and textual material has been incorporated into “contemporary classical” compositions, as well as melodic electronica and post-melodic sound collages. In addition to standard compositional techniques, generative (algorithmic) compositional techniques and computer-based sound design were employed. If the listener is attempting to identify my influences, perusal of the work of Persichetti, Messaien, Ives, Stravinsky, and Cage may be instructive, as well as the recorded output of Tommy Jarrell, a skilled traditional musician from western North Carolina and John Morgan Salyer, a remarkable fiddler from eastern Kentucky.CoolEdit 2000 was used for sampling and sound design, Cakewalk Express was used for MIDI sequencing, Finale was used for traditional notational composition, and MusiNum was used for algorithmic composition. A 500 MHz WIN-DOS machine equipped with Yamaha and M-Audio sound cards served as a digital audio workstation. The author believes that the electronically generated or processed human speaking voice is a valid instrumental resource. PleaseRead and the AnalogX Vocoder were used for text-to-speech generation and modification.

Stephen G. Senderoff Wilmington, DE steventrish@mindspring.com

Stephen Senderoff studied theory and composition with Homer Keller, clarinet with Alan Squire, Sidney Forrest, Gerry Stowell, Fred Ormand, Robert Marcellus, and Howard Klug, and banjo with Mike Seeger. He holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry.

Soldiers’ Joy

The traditional melody is harmonized with the electronically generated retrograde of the melody.

Percy’s Farewell to Red Gap

The traditional modal fiddle tune is superimposed above a tone cluster containing all the notes of the melody.

Suite for Woodwind Quintet

The melodic material employed in this composition is drawn entirely from traditional American fiddle tunes and religious hymns. This music was the communal cultural property of Scots-Irish and German immigrants who populated the Southern Appalachian region of this country in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Their western migration (e.g. to Texas) was accompanied by their music. The titles of the individual movements refer to the regional origin of the fiddle tunes. Some tunes are familiar (Turkey in the Straw, Goodbye Old Paint), and some are less commonly heard (Tight Old Sally Gal, Back-Step Cindy). The final movement, an epilogue, is an arrangement of a shape-note hymn from William Walker’s Southern Harmony (1853). I have attempted to convey the amateur ensemble feeling of a traditional “session” by the use of repetition, awkward thematic transitions, unexpected octave transpositions, simplistic harmony, and the use of a single key (C-major), in deference to the banjo player.

Dubuque

A MIDI implementation of this traditional melody was orchestrated with Yamaha-XG patches. Multi-voice harmonization was done with a Thue-Morse sequence produced from a pentatonic scale by MusiNum.

Poor Ellen Smith

The text of this traditional ballad was “spoken” with a text-to-speech application over a looped sample of North Carolina style banjo frailing. The dissonant organ background is meant to invoke the ambiguity present in Charles Ives’ “The Unanswered Question”.

Ways of the World

A collage featuring the traditional fiddle tune played on clawhammer banjo processed with extreme reverberation (producing a liquid, metallic wash of sound) is contrasted to angular, spiky sounds emanating from a Vocoder acting upon reversed speech and a shape-note hymn. Inspired by the mixed media collages of Frances Reisman.

Track Listing

Stephen Senderoff (1953- )

New Directions in Old Time Music (2002)

One may decide to duplicate the music of Tommy Jarrell, or decide to watch "Charlie's Angels" re-runs.

Mr Jarrell did both.

1. Dubuque 2. Hangman 3. Percy's Farewell to Red Gap

4. Soldier's Joy 5. Hawke Shot a Buzzard

6. Poor Ellen Smith 7. Big Liza Jane (Narration)

8. I Truly Understand 9. Shall We Gather By the River

10. Cold Frosty Morning 11. Ways of the World

Suite for Woodwind Quintet (2001, MIDI Implementation)

12. Kentucky: Moderato, Poco Allegretto

13. West Virginia: Lento

14. Texas: Moderato

15. North Carolina: Allegretto

16. Hallelujah (Epilogue): Moderato

17. Sal's Got Mud Between Her Toes