- Program Notes
- Viper Snake (2020) for two percussionists and electronics. 8 minutes
I composed Viper Snake at CEMI Studios - Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia, University of North Texas, and my home studio in 2020 for contemporary percussion ensemble Synergein Project. The piece received its world premiered in November 2021 at IX Ciclo de Música a Ccontemporánea de Lugo - MIHLSons-XXI in Spain.
The instruments used in Viper Snake are a modified ratchet and a custom-made daxophone. The latter is a friction idiophone instrument developed in the 1980s by Hans Reichel with a timbre that resembles animal-like or vocal qualities. While composing Viper Snake, my compositional process expanded with new phases that I thoroughly enjoyed. I became an instrument designer and maker using tools and my hands to build or modify the instruments. I taught myself how to perform these seemingly simple instruments and take advantage of their full sound and musical potential. I created various notational solutions and intergraded them into the score. Last but not least, I documented the whole process thoroughly with photographs and video instructions on how to make/modify the instruments, as well as audio/video performances notes on how to perform all different sounds in the piece. Viper Snake consists of two main sections, with multiple subsections, and one shorter section right in the middle of the piece, which I call Fantasia. In this section, various field recordings combined with the instrumental parts to create multiple timelines and spaces stacked together. These chronotopes allowed me to navigate the piece's timbre space in a more immersive and expressive way. Viper Snake received a Judge’s Pick in the 2020 Percussive Arts Society PAS Composition Contest, USA.
- Recording Notes
- Studio edited mix © Panayiotis Kokoras
- Performer Credits
- Ensemble Holophony Project
- Publisher
- Panayiotis Kokoras