Reel
for stereo tape • December 1997, 13'00
NOTES
Using the uillean (Irish) bagpipe as its principal sound source, this piece
was composed with a view to capturing something of the energy and intensity
that characterises the traditional Irish reel. Such an 'upbeat' quality is
achieved in this genre not least by the upbeat itself (the anacrusis being
essential to its iambic rhythmic structure) and the preparatory gesture that
opens the piece thus becomes an important feature throughout.
While a lively disposition prevails, reference is also made to other, more
melancholy folk genres - in particular to the air and lament - in the latter
half of the piece. At such times, the pipe sonorities are at their closest
to their raw form; the sounds tend otherwise to be heavily processed and largely
unrecognisable. Nonetheless, the essential quality of the instrument remains,
as does the manner of its performance - particularly in the ever-present drone
which underlies the intricacies of the surface material.
Reel was conceived at the University of Wales Bangor during the summer of 1997 and completed at the University of Birmingham. Grateful acknowledgements go in particular to Keith Powell who kindly provided the source material and who thereafter graciously allowed me to savage it completely.
