This is Kazimierz Serocki’s last composition and his only piece with electronics. The composer treats the electronic layer as one of the orchestra’s instruments, using live electronics to enrich his colour palette, which must have been a point of special interest for a composer so deeply sensitive to sound colour. Electronic transformation is limited to the piano, whose sounds are collected by three microphones (one contact microphone) and directed to the sound transforming apparatus. The process of sound modification is controlled by the sound producer, whereas the pianist can operate two generators producing tones that correlate with the piano part in accordance with the pianist’s decisions. A characteristic feature of Pianophonie is the use of atypical techniques of sound production on the instrument. Apart from traditional keyboard playing, the composer requires the soloist to play on the piano strings: strike the strings with fingers and the palm of the hand, pluck them with fingernails, and strike with percussion mallets in various ways. Depending on the type of beater, different sound effects are achieved. The extremely virtuosic piano part poses many technical challenges for the soloist. In this context, Pianophonie can also be considered as an impressive piano concerto.
From the programme book of the Musica Polonica Nova Festival of Polish Contemporary Music, Wrocław, 15–22 February 2008
Kazimierz Serocki’s Pianophonie will be presented at this year’s Warsaw Autumn using radically new technical solutions.
Already several years ago (at the Musica Polonica Nova festival in 2008), we saw how the old analogue sound transformation devices could be reproduced using the MAX/MSP environment. What is new in our revitalised version of Serocki’s work is that the pianist regains direct control over the tone generators, by means of which he can change the instrument’s sound colour in real time. The other modulators, generators and sound transforming devices are controlled by the sound producer, as the composer clearly indicated in the score.
Working in the MAX/MSP program, Kamil Kęska was able to exactly reproduce the effect of all the analogue devices (including the halaphone, which imitates the movement of sound in space by sending signals to the individual speakers placed in the auditorium). Thus the whole team of technicians necessary to operate the vast analogue apparatus has been eliminated, and all the functions have been transferred to Kamil’s computer, which has become the “brain” of the electronic part.
For a very long time we looked for the suitable software and controller enabling the pianist to switch and smoothly regulate the frequencies of the two tone generators included in the apparatus. After long research and a few weeks of work, we found a solution in the form of Ableton Live—a programme created for the purpose of producing electronic music, club music and live performances. Ableton has it's own MAX environment device: Max for Live, which represents the ability for MAX/MSP users to integrate their patches directly inside of Ableton Live. In this system, I built two sine wave generators. Then I programmed all the frequencies appearing in Serocki’s score, so that I can operate them using the impressive Ableton Push controller, whose buttons light up with coloured LEDs after being switched on.
Since my apparatus has been connected to Kamil Kęska’s software, the generated tones are now transmitted through ring modulators. In this way, we have managed to fully preserve and reconstruct the process of sound synthesis used by Kazimierz Serocki in Pianophonie. Most importantly, we have also adhered to his original concept of a soloist who himself modifies the sound of the piano from the stage.
Adam Kośmieja
