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Isolation​-​19 for extraterrestrial organ, percussion and voice

by Bernardo Bortolin Kerr

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about

For this piece I enlisted some extraterrestrial friends of mine, the Solaris Trio. The three performers each come from very distinct star systems so I worked with them together to compose a piece evoking the classical music traditions characteristic of their own cultures.

While the organ and percussion may sound somewhat similar to our own, you may find it more challenging to identify the vocal performance. With a physiology profoundly different from that of the human being, the sounds produced by the vocalist in this piece are almost unrecognisable as voice. Listen out for guttural clicks, forceful exhalations, high-pitched ululations and a technique involving the rapid opening and closing of the throat, among other distinctive vocalisations.

The percussionist mostly plays using pieces of metal much like our own cymbals but you will also hear consistent use of an instrument utterly unlike any on our planet. Resembling on first glance a sheet of silk, occupying a space the size of a small room and shaped like an enormous butternut squash, this instrument stands around the performer, who manipulates its surface from within. Using different gestures, such as tapping, rubbing or scrunching up the silk-like membrane, the percussionist produces diverse granular textures. The material itself alters in density and consistency depending on the intensity of these gestures, at times morphing into a hollow, wood-like structure and at others becoming almost like tin foil.

The organist uses perhaps the most familiar-sounding instrument, but in appearance it is utterly unlike our own organs. Virtually invisible to the human eye, this instrument can only be seen as a faint constellation of different coloured lights. The performer's eyes are themselves attuned to this light spectrum and they are thus able to move through its different sounds and pitches. The image I've used for this piece is my own very crude attempt at representing the appearance of the instrument.

credits

released April 8, 2020
Solaris Trio:
Khraxxion Plass – voice
Paraall Corsateen – percussion
Dlooll Amporss – organ

Bernardo Bortolin Kerr – composer and conductor

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