October 17, 2016
Dillon Taunton
Two professors at UCCS hope to introduce students to music with new sounds and technology.
Peak Frequency will host a Faculty Recital from 7:30-9 p.m. on Oct. 21 in Centennial Hall Auditorium.
The recital features the work of Lewis Keller and William Malone, lecturers in the VAPA Department.
Admission is free to students, but a $10 donation is encouraged.
Malone will play the saxophone with music from the 20th and 21st centuries that include electronics, piano and vocals.
Lewis Keller will incorporate percussion into his performance.
“I will have sensors attached to all of the drums in my set that feed into a computer,” said Keller.
“I transform the sounds that come from the sensors on my drums to trigger differing sounds from my computer.”
The sensors create different sounds that showcase a variety of music both acoustically and synthetically.
“Lots of sounds are produced; the acoustic sound of the drum set will be heard but they are triggering stuff from samples of other music.”
“It is like using the drum kit as a sound source and a control for the computer,” said Lewis.
Though interesting, Keller said this type of music is unlikely to get you up and dancing.
Some of the performance will be beat-based, but most of it will be abstract, he said.
Due to its complexity, this type of music can be difficult for someone who has never listened to it to understand, according to Keller.
“It is music that isn’t readily assessable to the uninitiated. This is music that requires repeat listening or for an individual to have prior exposure to really grasp it,” said Lewis.
The lack of mainstream popularity is what makes this form of musical expression difficult to digest.
This is a school of composition that doesn’t get out of the ivory tower; this sort of avant-garde music, sounds that push the boundary of what is music, I feel like a lot of my inspiration lives in this area,” said Lewis.
For students attending the recital, Keller suggested that people get a taste of his music before the event.
Composers that Keller would like students to listen to are Morton Feldman, Alvin Lucier and Squarepusher.
“These are older, more minimalist composers, and a more contemporary artist may be someone like Sq uarepusher,” said Keller.