Hectic Resonance

Music for physically distant performers

About the project

Musicians are like sympathetic strings. Even when distant, one can easily be called into vibration by another. 

While music-making is intrinsically social, the 2020 global pandemic forced distance both between artists and audiences and between musicians themselves. Inherently creative and not easily silenced, musicians were quick to adapt and respond creatively. The following ‘Hectic’ series is my own small contribution to a large body of Covid-stimulated work and the ‘socially distant’ environment that was suddenly thrust upon us.

‘Hectic Resonance’ is a family of short compositions characterised by rapid interlocking rhythms between physically distant musicians. In 2019 I started a project about connection and distance. One response to the theme was using spatially separated musicians whose notes never 'touch' and whose sense of connectedness is mediated via technology rather than physical proximity. The spatialised hocketing game may have remained a one-off rhythm exercise had it not been for the ensuing pandemic in which the work acquired new and unexpected resonances. With ‘distance’ at the conceptual heart of the work, the series is peculiarly compatible with social-distancing orders and well suited for stitching together from home recordings made by musicians in lockdown.

The concept is open-scored for any two (four or eight) similar-sounding instruments. Every iteration is unique and idiomatic with regards to pitch and duration, however, the spatialised interlocking rhythms remain similar. Each new realisation earns its own botanical name - Hectic ?? - chosen by the performers. The family is growing quickly for a variety of instrumental groupings from percussion to prepared pianos and toy pianos, to saxophones and homemade reed instruments. I remain open to ideas for new versions.

Below is a growing collection of new realisations generously recorded by musicians, most of whom had the life-blood of their art abruptly severed by the complete cancellation of live performances. Despite the imposition of isolation, I imagine the collection as a dialogue between distant musicians pinging out like sonar beacons and providing some bearings until we all return to safer ground.

Hectic Jacarada was the first version recorded by Lulu Liu (pipa) and Vladimir Gorbach (guitar) [see above] just before the pandemic reached Australia. New recordings are posted below as they become available.

Article

Damien Ricketson. “Sonic beacons in the pandemic age: New music for physically distant musicians” Resonate Magazine, Australian Music Centre (30 June 2020)

Podcast

Speaking about Hectic Resonance on the Soundmaking podcast series

Notation

Hectic works have been scored in a variety of ways from conventional staff notation, to traditional pipa notation, to a form of symbolic TAB and an animated score