Mikel Kuehn - Works
Polyvalence I (2017, improvising pianist, MIDI controller, interactive electroacoustics.)
Written for Daniel Koppelman. Live performance by Daniel Koppelman at University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; 11/2/17:
Program Note
Polyvalence I (2017) is an improvisation-based work for piano and interactive electroacoustics. The title alludes to the core concept of the piece, that each realization will have a slightly different formal shape with musical content and details changing significantly for each performance. The performer is given musical “building blocks” and suggestions for textural ideas. The electronics provide a kind of “ghost template” of sonic alteration and generation, the outcomes of which change on each performance based on what the pianist plays (or doesn’t play). The electronics are created only from the sounds of the piano in an attempt to exhibit the meta sound world of the concert grand piano. The process is a kind of collective feedback loop between machine and human that results in a continually changing musical landscape. Polyvalence I was written for, and is dedicated to, pianist Daniel Koppelman and was inspired by attending several of his performances over the years.
Above: Images from the Max/MSP performance interface. For ease in performance, green = go, yellow = finish idea and move on, red = move to next idea/text
