Stutter Edit for open-hole bass flute and computer

Composed by Eric Honour
Commissioned and premiered by Shanna Pranaitis, with support from NewMusicUSA. (shannapranaitis.com)

Stutter edits have become a very common audio production technique in the last 10 years or so, and enable the audio producer to effectively recompose or comment upon the rhythmic structure of a work, generally by stepping outside that structure and deliberately creating conflict with it. This piece is based very strongly in groove—stutter edits work best when they have an easily recognizable structure to work against—but it is a complex, shifting sort of groove: momentarily danceable, but designed to catch listeners out over the medium term. Stuttering occurs in all aspects of the work: the live flute part, the live computer processing, the pre-recorded media, and even the formal structure. The computer part of the work makes heavy use of granular and spectral techniques to provide real-time stuttering and stretching of the live flute performance, but also incorporates some pre-recorded, fixed material. The grooves are generated mostly from a set of samples flutist Shanna Pranaitis recorded for me, of key clicks, tongue rams, lip pizzicatos, and other extended techniques on the flute, as well as from ancillary sounds she made while recording the samples, like breathing. The tempo accelerates regularly over the entire duration of the piece, and the flute part gets wilder and wilder, culminating in a blistering-fast, stutter-heavy rave of extended techniques.

Please note: if you purchase this work, you will receive an instant download for the score (as a PDF file). I will send you a link to download the accompanying software via email within 24 hours. The software runs in Cycling74’s Max environment and versions exist for Mac and Windows systems, in stereo, quad, and octophonic output formats. Please contact me with any questions or for help with the software!