First look at Leo
Here’s a video of Erik and I performing “Leo” at Mobtown Modern’s Out To Lunch concert back in May. The performance served as a preview for the full Zodiacrobatic arrangement.
Archived entries for Leo
Leo Sketches
Following an overwhelming mandate to begin this project with the “Leo” melody, Erik and I have hammered out a pretty solid framework for the track. The instrumentation will consist of toy piano, melodica, soprano saxophone, turntables, electric guitar, KAOSS pad, and a pre-composed drum track. Our planning of the piece focused mainly on how to maintain a steady build-up of energy before the beat dropped and how to keep that intensity up once the beat-based layer was introduced.
Preliminary sketch of the structure for the “Leo” melody. Click to view more.
A couple “samples” made their way into the arrangement rather serendipitously. As we improvised and experimented with ways to expand on the existing melodic material, I started playing Bach’s Partita in A Minor for flute over the looping chord progression. It worked well, so Erik sampled a bit of it for manipulation on the KAOSS pad and the Partita’s general contour became a jumping off point for the countermelody pictured in the score above.
The second sample is a verbatim lift of the middle-eastern tinged background melody from Jaylib’s “Survival Test”, though tweaked slightly to line up with the odd 3/4 bar we partitioned off in “Leo” (Stockhausen doesn’t include or suggest barlines in his score).
In order to break up the repetitiveness of the chord progression, we created a more open middle section in which the harmonic rhythm moved twice as slow, giving Erik a chance to improvise on the turntables over a jangly, Steve Reich-ish phasing toy piano motive.
Poll: Zodiactivation
Okay, so Hybrid Groove Project is embarking on a massive undertaking that includes working with a certain 12 melodies of the Zodiac. But we need a place to start. Help us choose which melody to begin working on by casting a vote! Preview each of the five melodies below.
Aquarius
Cancer
Leo
Pisces
Sagittarius