Tentations—its title derived from the mechanical engineering term meaning “a method of making mechanical adjustment by a succession of trials”—came to fruition through exactly such experimental means. The composition, indeed is a posteriori, a musical hindsight born from intense collaboration between cellist and composer. The textural material is derived directly from mechanical trials on the instrument, including spectral analyses of stress tests, leading to the choice of mechanical preparations on the cello. The experimental process itself ultimately helped adumbrate and inform the work’s structure, musical pacing, and sonic identity. What’s left is a work that explores the acoustic possibilities of the cello, not only as an instrument, but more purely as a resonant body.

The piece calls for one cello, ‘mechanized’ with small motors attached to the strings; during the course of the piece, other preparations are manipulated by the performer, in keeping with the idea of a “succession of trials.” The performer, like the cello, must also adapt to new circumstances, learning to bow a string already vibrating, excited by a motor, using two bows simultaneously, and using a metal rod to counter the cello’s vibrations; the music produced by the cello is no longer only the purview of the cellist, but rather shared between instrumentalist and computer-operator.

Perhaps the greatest challenge to the performer is learning and interpreting an entirely new system of graphic notation, a hybrid—inspired in part by the writings of such experimentalists as Luigi Russolo and John Cage—aptly interdisciplinary and reflective of its composer. Afrooz Family drew both from his musical training (having studied extensively at UC Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Audio Technologies) as well as his scientific training (as a research assistant in atomic physics). The intersection here is an eye and ear for structural analysis.

Both musically and scientifically, Afrooz has used Finite Element Analysis as a tool to understand complex systems, and indeed to translate them to something more physically tangible, whether by modelling images of 3D vector fields or measuring acoustical impulse responses. The impetus for Tentations was to examine the sonic capabilities of the cello, inviting the listener to experience a ‘guided tour’ of the full range of the instrument’s acoustic vocabulary, exploring its furthest limits.

Tentations was premiered September 20, 2010, at UC Berkeley, by cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak, assisted by the composer.

Composers
Afrooz Family
Brief Description
Tentations—its title derived from the mechanical engineering term meaning “a method of making mechanical adjustment by a succession of trials”—came to fruition through exactly such experimental means. The textural material is derived directly from mechanical trials on the instrument. The piece calls for one cello, ‘mechanized’ with small motors attached to the strings; during the course of the piece, other preparations are manipulated by the performer, in keeping with the idea of a “succession of trials.” The performer, like the cello, must also adapt to new circumstances, learning to bow a string already vibrating, excited by a motor, using two bows simultaneously, and using a metal rod to counter the cello’s vibrations; the music produced by the cello is no longer only the purview of the cellist, but rather shared between instrumentalist and computer-operator.
Collaborators
Isaac Pastor-Chermak (cello)
Attachments
Image icon Tentations small.jpg