Ellen Fullman: Isolated Reflections

isolated reflections:

isolated reflections will be an evening-length work for two Long String Instruments (LSIs) and two groups of musicians performing on traditional acoustic instruments (these will include kotos, Autoharps, violins, cellos and tuned percussion). The ideal setting would be a vacuous industrial space, such as an airplane hangar. This project will give me an opportunity to exploit the spatial potential of the LSI installation, fully, visually as well as sonically. Groups of strings from each instrument will radiate from the resonators, bisecting the space at various angles. Each of the LSIs will be tuned to a distinct tuning system. The fundamentals of each instrument will be separated by a purely tuned interval and the tunings will share some pitches in common. Multiple performers will play on the strings of the two LSIs, in addition to myself. The two small ensembles of musicians playing traditional instruments will be located near the resonators for each of the LSIs. Each of these groups will be tuned to the instrument/resonators which they are near. By placing the resonators large distances from each other, the sound sources can be localized. This project would take my exploration of extended harmony to a larger scale: each ensemble will function as a distinct harmonic unit.

Playing the Long String Instrument feels to me like I'm walking in waist-high water, skimming the surface with my fingertips. As the performer walks the listener senses motion in the sound as well. The cascading overtone production glides over the rooted fundamental tone like a river moving past: always changing; yet remaining the same. A video installation artist will explore these metaphors in projected imagery. This project would give me the opportunity to compose in relationship to a cinematic environment. Devices to be explored will be rear-projections onto scrims and projection into a pool of water to illuminate an installation with reflections.