Study in Edge & Surface

for amplified flute & snare drum

The piece attempts to investigate the apparently disparate timbres of the chosen instruments (flute and snare drum) and to align them in a thought provoking manner.

Both pitch and rhythm are derived from a 5-note row: the melody utilises 3 rotations of this row, whilst the repeating rhythmic patterns result from converting its intervals into numbers of semitones. Thus the given 5 notes structure the entire work despite its apparently diminishing presence as the piece progresses.

The flute and snare drum present a fairly conventional soundworld from the outset, but as the instruments begin presenting different timbral effects and playing techniques, these soundworlds coalesce somewhat. Broadly speaking, the flute becomes ‘percussionised’ whilst the snare drum becomes ‘melodicised’.

[ Fl., Perc.]