Subsonic Pulse: an exploration of low instruments
August 10, 2023; Bay View Music Festival; Petoskey, MI; ACMI Cohort
Not entirely sure why I've decided to dive into blogging in late 2023 (posted on my own website?), and I doubt many folks will check this. But here I am, turning it into an online diary – a space to share my story, my career, and for anyone out there curious about my music.
Subsonic Pulse was composed for the Akropolis Quintet’s 2023 Chamber Music Festival. I was super excited when Matt Landry (saxophonist) asked me to write music for this weird instrumentation – I mean, what a cool idea for writing a piece for four low wind instruments?! Andrew Koeppe from Akropolis Quintet seemed to resonate with my piece from my ACMI application, Into Metaverse, and hoped I could do something similarly fast and loud. And bang! Subsonic Pulse, everyone!
I put everything I had into making this piece as rhythmic, loud, low, and fast as possible. To be honest, some of the low notes might not make any harmonic sense, and I used them because I simply didn't have lower notes on those instruments. I've also added numerous stomps to enhance that low-register effect. I find it cool both in terms of audio and visually. Although it might require the performer to have a pair of shoes that resonate well with the floor. Furthermore, to highlight the low, I needed something high to echo it. That's why you'll find one of my favorite techniques in this piece—playing on the mouthpiece (reeds). Blowing on bassoon reeds can easily reach G5, and the melody created by that was absolutely heavenly.
November 15, 2023; Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Cincinnati, OH; BARQ
Here's another interesting fact about this piece: the titles of each movement were chosen entirely at random – I .The Fast Movement, II. The Medium Fast Movement, and III. The Faster Movement. Although, in the first edition, the second movement was titled The Slow Movement for contrast. However, during the premiere rehearsal, Mio, one of the performers, rightly pointed out that a tempo marking of 112 doesn't quite align with the notion of “slow”. I guess that's a pretty valid point. Recognizing the need for clarity, I revised the title to The Medium Fast Movement, a more accurate reflection of its tempo and character.
Working and studying at ACMI with the Akropolis Quintet and the amazing fellows was an incredibly impressive experience. As you probably know, my music tends to get tricky with rhythms and fast-changing textures. While, of course, Ryan Reynolds and Andrew Koeppe did a fantastic job on Subsonic Pulse, I also want to give a shoutout to Mio Yamauchi and Milo Pomerance—both undergrads, but they absolutely nailed the premiere and recording of this piece.
January 11, 2024; Fivemind Reeds
After ACMI, I arranged this piece for various instrumentations, and the reed quintet version is by far my favorite. The Hub New Music and CCM student ensemble BARQ have performed it several times. And it has won the Fivemind Reeds Call for Scores, an ensemble based in Los Angeles. The audience really seems to love the sense of humor in this piece, especially when the performers commit earnestly to those ridiculous effects, like the stomping and reed playing. Sometimes the performers even choreograph the stomp moves. It always leads the audience to smirk or laugh (in a good way), and I absolutely love it! I'm really hoping this piece can become another Glow for me, a saxophone quartet piece that has been performed a ton.
Isn't this blog a bit pointless? I spend a lot of time playing video games and writing music, but I don't write or read much. But hey, I believe I'll improve if I stay committed. Ever since I started pursuing my doctoral degree, most of my friends are at the doctoral level, and they all have their own jobs and families to focus on. (even my partner doesn't enjoy it lol). This is likely the reason I started writing blogs.
