Variation VII

Variation VII
for two cellos

Score – Variation VII

Variation VII is for two cellos and live electronic processing. The cellists play opposite glissandi, slowly rising and falling through the interval of a whole step, while a computer records and plays random samples of the live sound. The cellists’ sound is added to the computer’s sample memory throughout the first half of the piece and subtracted from the computer’s sample memory throughout the second half of the piece. The interaction of the live cellos with their sampled sound causes audible beating, which increases in intensity as the interval widens and decreases in intensity as the interval narrows. At the start and end of the piece, when the accumulated sample memories are most dissimilar, interaction occurs most strongly between each player and her own sampled sound. As the accumulated sample memories grow similar, interaction occurs across the two players and their computer playback.