In 2021, I began to produce art videos for virtual performances. These videos deepened my interpretations and were challenging and rewarding to make. I found that I was able to more effectively bring out my interpretations through the video imagery. Please scroll through and explore these worlds!
The Starts and Stops
For the conclusion of WasteLAnd’s virtual season.
Recorded in May 2021
For this video, I (carefully!) placed tiny led lights inside my piccolo and then added some creative color correction according to the sections of the piece. The featuring of the lips was an unexpected, yet appreciated, Beckett reference.
Ina
by Chaya Czernowin
for solo bass flute and six pre-recorded flutes
recorded and produced in June 2021
featured at the Summer Institute for Cotemporary Performance Practice June 2021
In her notes for INA, Chaya Czernowin describes this piece as “an exploration into the drama of the singular persona (and thus the singular performer) confronted with the many divergent voices within. Ina unequivocally retains a certain narrative and dramatic conception in its play between the soloist and his or her internal environment.” In this video, I chose to place a microscope on myself in both sound and sight. The view of the inside of the flute, with light filtering through the keys feels as if you are peering down my throat - into the abyss of the lungs. It also reminds me of peering into another’s eye, or of the shape of the lips while playing the flute. I chose to record with an extremely close microphone; we hear the sound more closely and clearly than even I do as its creator. With this juxtaposition, we are witness to a hyper-intimate environment beyond the possibilities of a live performance.
eyam iii (if it's living somewhere outside of you)by Ann Cleare
for solo bass flute
in this version for two shadow bass flutes
recorded, produced, and directed by Rachel Beetz
June 2021
The preface to the score states: “One day, you’re there. And then, all of a sudden, there’s less of you. And you wonder where that part went? If it’s living somewhere outside of you? And you keep thinking… maybe you’ll get it back? And then you realize: it’s just gone.” From AMC’s Television Series Mad Men, Meditations in an Emergency [2.13]
The shadow sounds of the bass flutes here are also present in the silhouetted performer, whose hazy presence hovers around the existing frame.
L’acqua non ricorda
Performed by wasteLAnd
Mattie Barbier, trombone and effect pedals
Rachel Beetz, flute and effect pedals
Nicholas Deyoe, guitar and effect pedals
In this work, the flute and guitar play through effects pedals, supporting and enhancing the guitar. This video layers our three home studio performances with color-adjusted ambient water in addition to some video processing in MaxMSP. The video layers echo a similar, supportive blurring of sonic and visual space.
While Liquid Amber
by Chaya Czernowin
version for three piccolos
performed by Sarah Steranka, Abrielle Scott, and Rachel Beetz
video by Rachel Beetz with stock VHS footage
featured at the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at New England Conservatory
In While Liquid Amber, the flute is treated as an air pipe which is capable of producing very raw and uncultured sounds: not beautiful and divine-sounding lines, but rather breath as a direct, forceful and primitive impulse leading to the utterance of sound. This piece is structured as a set of six sections, each containing both a subsection of longer breaths and a subsection shorter breaths (except for the final section which only contains shorter breaths). As the piece progresses, each section suggests a different avenue in the search from pure breathing via sound towards musical expression. The musical expression that evolves through this search is however still a direct manifestation of the power of breath itself in its raw state. The mechanics of the flute's sound production are therefore not only a necessary element in the mechanics of music-making , but also become the major force in motivating and inspiring the music. This performance is the first version of the piece, which is short, focused and concentrated. (Chaya Czernowin)