double bass and electronics
10 minutes
commissioned and performed here by Ira Gold
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About:
When bassist Ira Gold and I first started working on Sounding Dawn, we discovered that we both had an affinity for the occasional run at sunrise. There’s something special about hitting the road at first light, before you do anything else with your day. Musically, this translated into exploring delicate timbres on the instrument that traverse the pitch-to-noise spectrum, and finding a balance in the rhythmic realm that keeps the music pushing forward without obliterating the introspective vibe. Layered textures, between the live performer and triggered prerecorded sounds, are present throughout the piece; in addition to prerecorded sounds, the electronic elements in the piece are also amplifying and processing what the live performer plays.
Overall, Sounding Dawn is intended as a meditation on the experience of sharing a hazy secret with an awakening world. For me, that secret is most often a run through my neighborhood woods before I go to work in the morning, but I don’t think the experience with this piece needs to be limited to just that. I hope the piece can help to project an introspective space for a listener, a space where one stops and appreciates the larger world around them.
