KARL RONNEBURG
Princeton Application
#1: Microrhythms
I’m investigating the possibilities of composing with microrhythmic inflections, studying how subtle changes of tempo and note placement can open up new realms of rhythmic creation and perception. This can come in the form of rhythmic frameworks, like inventing a new kind of Viennese Waltz or a new system of swing, or can be used as a more flexible compositional tool, adding varying amounts of rhythmic warping and nuance throughout a particular piece.
I built a sequencer interface in SuperCollider to help me design and explore these rhythmic ideas, which I then turned into MIDI, audio, and transcriptions to create the following tracks and short pieces. Included below is my electronic collaboration with Elliot Cole iso+micro, my open-instrumentation piece BDA-GOON-KA (performed here with the improv punk band Sickmorley's), and a collection of studio recordings I made of microrhythmic drum loops, called Microgrooves:
Essay on Microrhythmic Composition:
Score for
BDA-GOON-KA:
Score for
Microgrooves 1-4:
Click for SuperCollider screenshots and the annotated rhythmic structure of iso+micro :
#2: m o v e m e n t s
For Choreographed Trumpets and Trombones (2020), 15"
Each movement utilizes a different movement system and set of stylistic constraints, from separate Xenakis-style sieves (mvt 2) to detached trombone slides (mvt 4) and yoga poses with corresponding pitches (mvt 6). For some highlights, check out movements 6 and 7.
Note: the April workshop and premiere at Northwestern University was cancelled due to COVID-19. The full score is below, along with NotePerformer realizations of each movement, if interested. Movement 7 features a sung version of the bass trombone solo and spoken text performed by the composer to aid the imagination.
Score:
#3: dance and meditation and dance and
For Flute/Piccolo, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, and Percussion (2020) - Live Premiere Recording
Funky, deconstructed rhythmic development and a marimba played simultaneously with kick drum and suspended cymbal, inspired by a band I once played in.
Program Note: when I moved to New York I had to meditate almost every day just to stay sane in this crazy town----this is some music about the dance that is living here and meditating inside it and then dancing and meditating and dancing and
90-second preview (1 before rehearsal H to L):
Full recording (8 minutes):
Score:
#4: Bonus: The Snaxophone
An instrument I built using a Pringles can and Max/MSP to transpose amplifier feedback!
Below is my arrangement of the Sarabande from J.S. Bach's Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor: