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From the CD Watt ever. |
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Viable alternative / Ian Fredericks
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Work Overview
Viable Alternative was composed as a radiophonic
sound-drama. Sounds were recorded from broadcast waves, distorted
using various recording studio techniques and combined with other
sounds, including
music sequences, which were recorded and altered in various ways.
A library of sounds was built up in this way, and the piece put
together using multi-track tape recorders, tape-splicing
techniques, and a range of
audio-mixing techniques, including stereo matrixing for spatial
manipulations. Sounds invoking different images were juxtaposed
against one another, both vertically and horizontally, resulting
in a kind of collage
on a time-canvas. The trick with this type of composition is to
ensure that the work proceeds in accord with temporal rules that
are musical in essence. That is, sounds are combined in order to
make music-like
phrases which are then combined in contrapuntal ways to generate
structures containing 'harmonies' of sound and meaning. The end
result is a dream-like sound-structure which in this case is the
worst
nightmare, the 'ultimate obscenity'.
Viable Alternative is based on that which I consider to
be the most profound event in the history of mankind and the most
profound utterance ever to be broadcast: This is one small step
for a man; one giant
leap for mankind, which was followed by that statement of awesome
simplicity - We came in peace for all mankind. The alternative
use for knowledge, science and technology is nuclear war - an
alternative which political forces would have us accept as
viable. [But] A nuclear war could ruin your whole day. The first
version of Viable Alternative was composed for the WATT concert
of 1983 and developed into
an audio-visual work. [Viable Alternative also received a certain
amount of assistance in its composition, recording and
sound-mixing from David Turnbull. In addition to the voices of
Jane Fitch, Joshua Fredericks,
Rebecca Lawson (née Fredericks) and David Turnbull, the
composer's own voice is heard in various guises throughout the
piece - most clearly and poignantly in the soliloquy that
concludes it.] {Ian Fredericks, 1996}
Work Details
Year: 1983
Duration: 19 min.
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