The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Arts February 17, 2006

Beat the Winter (Electronic) Blues
Winter Term TIMARA Students’ Concert Amuses

While some students spent their Winter Term polishing performances for a marathon concert in celebration of Mozart’s 250th birthday, others worked in preparation for a more experimental musical endeavor.

Over Winter Term the Conservatory’s TIMARA department (Technology In Music And Related Arts) sponsored the Beginning to Electronic Music course. Taught by TIMARA majors John Bohnert ’07 and Katelyn Mueller ’07, the class initiated a group of students into composing and producing music with synthesizers and samplers.

Last Sunday, ten musical pieces composed and produced by the class debuted to a sizeable audience in Warner Concert Hall. Whereas the nature of the Mozart Symposium was studied and serious, the TIMARA course was playfully experimental in its approach to music, and therefore was much more of an informal event, a testament to the Oberlin Conservatory’s all encompassing embrace of classical and contemporary musical traditions.

“Most of the students are experienced with music; some of them are Conservatory students, but none were familiar with the software that we have,” said instructor John Bohnert, referring to the different music production and recording technology offered by the TIMARA labs.

Considering that the compositions had to follow guidelines such as sampling sounds from two different sources, it presented a challenge for live performance. As each of the pieces were meticulously crafted and recorded in the studio by their respective composer(s), these pieces were better suited for recorded medium than performance.

“We each composed at least three pieces over the course of Winter Term, and chose our favorite to be performed today,” said freshman Andrew Yoon, whose Beautiful Collision opened the show.

The stage was occupied only by some faux-foliage and a decorative rock; what was lacking were the musicians. Music came from a console in the center of the auditorium operated by the course instructor, John Bohnert. Most of the composers were in attendance, each one standing up to receive the recognition and applause of the audience after his or her respective piece was played.

Despite the absence of live musicians on stage or anything visually engaging where it seemed especially appropriate, the audience still responded to the music, which included many instances of dissonance and ambience.

Some of the pieces were quite humorous, and the audience responded with laughter. Interface, composed by Ardon Shorr and Peter Zhang, was conceived as a dialogue between two computers/one-time lovers articulated by robotic voices, one male and the other female. As sentimental and romantic incidental music played as a backdrop, the conversation employed euphemisms and innuendos of computer jargon to elicit laughter from the audience.

“You’re only saying that to get into my hard drive,” said the expressionless female robot voice.

Another similarly humorous composition was also popular with the audience. Hot Milk by Ezra Spier sampled what sounded like dozens of radio or television advertisements for coffee from the 1950s and ’60s. What resulted was a sound collage praising coffee’s quality of extraordinary bitterness.

Clocking in at about forty minutes, the debut performance of electronic works by these composers displayed some entertaining and amusing works by students whose nascent oeuvre sound promising. But just in case it did not hold promise, they obviously had a fun time experimenting and exploring the possibilities for technology in making music.
 
 

   

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