Solo version for tenor steelpan and fixed media
First performance: Colin Malloy, 26 March 2022 at University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
The video above is from the premiere of the solo version of the (De/Con)struction in Steel and Electricity.
This is a solo version of my piece originally composed for steelband and live electronics. The original version was performed twice in 2014 by the percussion departments at University of Arizona and Southern Oregon University. Due to the relative rarity of both steelbands and electronic ensembles, the piece has not been performed since. However, the piece was well received when first composed so I decided I would edit it and make a solo version that can be performed by any solo steelpannist. I recorded the electric bass and drum tracks, programmed the synthesizer tracks, and when I perform it, I add some additional processing to the steelpan including light overdrive, a light chorus effect, and reverb. The backing tracks are available in both stereo and four-channel audio.
The first part of (De/Con)struction explores how to approach making groove-oriented music based around a quintuplet subdivision. This means that unlike the majority of our music, which has beats that are divided into groupings of 2’s or 3’s, (De/Con)struction divides each beat into five sub-beats. The bass plays an ostinatto for the first half of the piece to give a strong sense of the pulse. However, about halfway through the piece, there is a transition to a 16th note subdivision. This results in the pulse of the music speeding up. After a funky middle section with space for optional solos, the themes from the first part of the piece are reimagined to exist in the new metric system. The majority of the harmony and melodies of this piece are derived from mathematical transformations of a simple melodic motif: G – A – C – D. From those four innocuous notes, much larger structures with complex harmony and beautiful melodies are built.