Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Professor Bryan Curt Kostors
Faculty Mentor’s Department
School of Music
Abstract / Artist's Statement
The goal in writing reCycling in Time was to demonstrate the ability to create art through the repurposing of unconventional materials and to communicate and strongly emphasize the impending climate crisis. The driving and unrelenting rhythms and the harsh timbre of the bow on the wheel spokes create an ethereal soundscape that causes discomfort and a sense of urgency. Climate action has been procrastinated for far too long, and there is too much ease and lack of concern and action regarding the crisis. reCycling in Time was created using repurposed parts found in the Bicycle Forest at Free Cycles Missoula. The sounds used in the piece were recorded individually on a cell phone using bicycle tires, wheel spokes, metal pipes, screws, a durable plastic key card, and a German bow for double bass. I then mixed the sounds into a coherent piece on GarageBand.
I drew inspiration for this piece from a few different sources. In the Spring of 2019, Cannon Shane, a UM Music Composition major, premiered an original piece using repurposed waste and recyclable items. I also pulled conceptual ideas from Andrew Norman’s Sustain (2018). Norman wrote in the program notes, “…we, at this critical moment in our history, are not doing enough to sustain the planet that sustains us…” While Shane and Norman inspired the concept, many of the techniques and sounds I used came from Frank Zappa. In 1963, Zappa appeared on The Steve Allen Show and demonstrated to Allen and the live audience his contemporary and experimental composition style by performing an improvisational piece for two bicycles. By using unfamiliar and avant-garde musical sounds, I intended to grab the attentiveness of the listener more effectively and communicate my crucial message with more resonance.
Category
Visual and Performing Arts (including Creative Writing)
reCycling in Time
The goal in writing reCycling in Time was to demonstrate the ability to create art through the repurposing of unconventional materials and to communicate and strongly emphasize the impending climate crisis. The driving and unrelenting rhythms and the harsh timbre of the bow on the wheel spokes create an ethereal soundscape that causes discomfort and a sense of urgency. Climate action has been procrastinated for far too long, and there is too much ease and lack of concern and action regarding the crisis. reCycling in Time was created using repurposed parts found in the Bicycle Forest at Free Cycles Missoula. The sounds used in the piece were recorded individually on a cell phone using bicycle tires, wheel spokes, metal pipes, screws, a durable plastic key card, and a German bow for double bass. I then mixed the sounds into a coherent piece on GarageBand.
I drew inspiration for this piece from a few different sources. In the Spring of 2019, Cannon Shane, a UM Music Composition major, premiered an original piece using repurposed waste and recyclable items. I also pulled conceptual ideas from Andrew Norman’s Sustain (2018). Norman wrote in the program notes, “…we, at this critical moment in our history, are not doing enough to sustain the planet that sustains us…” While Shane and Norman inspired the concept, many of the techniques and sounds I used came from Frank Zappa. In 1963, Zappa appeared on The Steve Allen Show and demonstrated to Allen and the live audience his contemporary and experimental composition style by performing an improvisational piece for two bicycles. By using unfamiliar and avant-garde musical sounds, I intended to grab the attentiveness of the listener more effectively and communicate my crucial message with more resonance.