1\u201904: My Name is Helen and I play flute with Ensemble, with the Ensemble Musikfabrik. My first choice of Partch Instruments was the Cloud Chamber Bowls. Because I wanted to be part of the percussion line. Partch has, had such a wonderful sense of feeling, of rhythm and polyrhythm that I really, that it attracted me more at first in the actual tuning\u2026 universe was is rhythm universe and the sound of the Glass Gongs attracted me and also the fact that the, it\u2019s a particular instrument, that you don\u2019t have to be a virtuosic percussionist to play because you can\u2019t hit them very hard and you can\u2019t really move around them really fast. Even, even a good percussionist, it\u2019s, it\u2019s difficult because of the distances and you know you play squatting down and standing up. That was another thing that attracted me, is that it\u2019s a very active instrument. You\u2019re not just standing there and playing, you really have to go down [lowed] the bowls that are low and the high for the high pitch ones. And I notice, and I\u2019m glad that I did that you know, I notice when I have rehearsals, when I play Cloud Chamber Bowls, and then I go back to playing flute, you know playing flute is such a static thing, and I, I\u2019m much more, I\u2019m tired, I\u2019m exhausted after a long rehearsal playing flute, but when I\u2019m playing Cloud Chamber Bowls and being active, I\u2019m less tired. So I think that, that was a good choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2\u201939: But then I did become attracted to the strings instruments of Partch, especially the Harmonic Canons. Less to the Kitharas. The Kitharas are fascinating for me because of the number of [Hack sets] they have and the possibilities for tuning, but I don\u2019t really like the sound of them, the way they are, I mean Partch was constantly developing the Kitharas, he went through many versions of them, he had a very primitive version and his latest instrument, the Kithara 2 is a wonderful instrument, and had he lived longer he would have developed it, and finally gotten the length, the woods, the strings sort of proportion rights so that it rings properly and doesn\u2019t have a twine. But unlike the Kitharas, the Harmonic Canons have a wonderful [decals] of sounds, I mean a lot of it has to do with the fact that you have like eleven strings pitch to the same instrument. There\u2019s a wonderful decay time. And this sound attracted me a lot more. Also the fact that he describes the Harmonic Canon as, in a way as a blank canvas. With bridges you can, you have this forty-four strings and you can draw it any way you want, make kind of a\u2026 you know any kind of tuning system you want, as long as you have the time to move the bridges. And you have the individual bridges, enough bridges to, to move them around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4\u201909: So that, really did that I also did a lot of experimentation and came up with a lot of interesting tunings myself and I use the ones from the Genesis of Music which some of the ancient tunings are really beautiful. So that\u2019s\u2026 Trying to think if I played any other instruments. Ah, I also played the Guba Guby, which is also know in Japanese as the hectora, I don\u2019t see it know, but it\u2019s the one\u00a0 string gourd instrument that you also plug or hit and changing the pitch by squeezing the, the thin, the thin wooden plates. It\u2019s rounded. So that\u2019s the instruments. Anything else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
04\u201954: (Eleni) So just tells me a little bit about the Partch Repertoire, how easy it was for you to learn or to hear or to tune or what are the technical requirements that Partch had, and then go a little bit into the new commissions that were given, and if you had to do something extraordinary or you try to, try out something that was not at all in Partch or you didn\u2019t came up thinking yourself that it was possible in all the instruments you played. And what do you think that are the possibilities, if you see any possibilities of developing the instruments further, or the notation that Partch uses, or especially for the Canons because I got some pieces and I got also a lot of recommendations of how probably that should be notated because we have this kind of blocks that have the same pitch and then, how fast is it for you to recognized the strings that you won\u2019t plug because if you\u2019re going up and down I suppose it\u2019s easy but then if you have to be specifically [\u2026].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
06\u201930: Ok so the new techniques I had to learn\u2026 Yeah the new techniques were basic percussion skills for the Cloud Chamber Bowls, but they were different from, you know, normal percussion techniques in a way, because, you know, normal percussionist will sit and do these sorts of exercises, where I had to do this kinds of exercises to play on the top bowls. That was all very interesting and I think very useful for my coordination. Another\u2026 the interesting thing about the Harmonic Canons, I didn\u2019t really had to learn any new techniques. I, I\u2019m an amateur harpist myself and it\u2019s very funny because I think Partch had a\u2026 He had a misguided concept of how harpists actually play. He was allergic to harp players and said harp players should stay away from the Harmonic Canons, because he, you know, he said they, they plug the instruments with this sort of gentle thing, which is not true, I mean a concert harp takes a lot of strengths actually, to plug the instrument. But he knew it. I know what he\u2019s talking about, he didn\u2019t like this sort of (she plays) things. He, he uses it every once in a while in his pieces just for effect, but the technique of playing Harmonic Canons is a very, is a very robust one. You need hard picks, I don\u2019t\u2026 this is not a hard picks, it\u2019s a medium one, where you really\u2026 You, you have to push it down into the string to get a sound. (she plays) That creates the, the sound that he\u2026 That he is really, really after. It can also, as you hear from the other players you can [be\u2026] those [summer?] sticks like this and that takes you also (she plays)\u2026 What is also cool about the Harmonic Canons are, they\u2019re in a way they\u2019re a lot a different instruments, to me, that seems to be put together. I mean you\u2019ve got this sort of [zipper] (she plays) sort of sound, and you could also produce [cotoal] sounds by (she plays). And if you\u2026 if they\u2019re [brittle] enough, it can even sound like a sitar (she plays) because sometimes you get the bridges that [brittle] more than others and then you have really cool sort of effect. With a raspy sound and an [then it go soundy].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
09\u201913: Other composers have asked us to bow, especially the low notes, using a bow. I think Hannah can show you that, she probably has a bow and she can demonstrate that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
09\u201924: About reading a notation, I\u2019ve got used to the Harmonic Canons notation for Partches instruments. They are a bit weird because if I remember correctly for eleven Intrusions, he numbers\u2026 he numbers the strings and\u2026 but it\u2019s actually backwards from what you do, so when the notation is low, you\u2019re high here, and when it goes up you, you move down the strings, that was a little bit weird at first, but that, I\u2019ve got used to it. The notation from, for the Chromelodic Canon is the trickiest actually. Because you have forty-for strings that are really\u2026 you don\u2019t have a [senctuense?]. What you have is a\u2026 You have one octave (she plays) divided in forty-three tons (she plays). This by the way has a wrong kind of strings on it. These are too thick, these are too thin, you need sort of something in the middle but we don\u2019t have them. And because our Harmonic Canons have to be\u2026 they have to played double roles, this is chromelodic tuning now, but sometimes we have to tune it to the\u2026 eleven Instrusions, that\u2019s pentatonic tuning so\u2026 we need these strings just to be easy, that, that\u2019s another issue with Harmonic Canons, that\u2019s the strings. Which strings for which tuning. But anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1\u201904: My Name is Helen and I play flute with Ensemble, with the Ensemble Musikfabrik. My first choice of Partch Instruments was the Cloud Chamber Bowls. Because I wanted to be part of the percussion line. Partch has, had such a wonderful sense of feeling, of rhythm and polyrhythm that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-525","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
11\u201901: The thing with the notation it is that it\u2019s, it\u2019s very difficult to see it and you can see that we\u2019ve puts\u2026 everything with a division of five has the, has red tape here and the division of ten has the white tape so that you can orient yourself. You see that if it\u2019s string five you sort of know it\u2019s here and then string six\u2026 Partch normally uses these [\u2026](she plays) sort of effect. And this sort of play (she plays) and he wanted that. But with some of the new pieces, we\u2019ve get thing where we need to go (she plays). Where you have to really just find our way around the instrument. And for that you sort of have to memorize because these aren\u2019t instruments that we are playing since we\u2019re young, like our own instruments that we learned at conservatory. They\u2019re completely new to us so it\u2019s difficult if you have a, a conductor standing there and you\u2019ve got the notes in front of you in the instrument and you\u2019re searching for string seventeen and trying to play on the third quintuplet of the\u2026 It\u2019s, it\u2019s tricky. And I wish, I wish the composers wouldn\u2019t write like that but they do. And it\u2019s much easier to do for Chromelodeon because it\u2019s all there in the notation, it\u2019s a little bit more pianistic, you know where it is. So there you go. Also Partch is guilty of that as well, in some cases, but normally he did that to accompany the singer, like in Ring around the moon<\/em> for example. When you\u2019ve got a voice going and he uses this Canon, he uses sometimes the same pitch as the singer\u2019s high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12\u201943: Singing is another thing. I\u2019ve tried to do, not as much as Carl who\u2019s the proper singer in our ensemble, but I\u2019ve sang one of the eleven Intrusions<\/em> and I sang Ring around the moon<\/em> and\u2026 That\u2019s\u2026 it\u2019s also\u2026 Yeah I mean it\u2019s a new technique that I had to learn as well. I\u2019ve spend a lot of time taking voice lessons and it was just a very interesting thing because Partch it\u2019s, wrote for non trained singers or singers that weren\u2019t supposed to be operatically trained, he hated that kind of singing, but on the other hand, you have to have some kind of training, you can\u2019t just get up, you can\u2019t just take someone on the street and say \u201chey sing this\u201d. You have to\u2026 You have to be able to, to know what you\u2019re doing, and since, since the words for Partches music are so important, it\u2019s, I mean you need to learn, like, like people on the radio have to learn how to speak properly. People who sing Partches music also have to know how to enunciate properly so that the words come across. And I think that it was interesting because at the, at the end of the day, the, once you can sing the parts, they\u2019re very intuitive because he, Partch invented his microtonal system to, to fit the voice because they weren\u2019t enough notes in the octave to express the range of, of human speech. So, it all worked out at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14\u201920: (Eleni) so, how is the coordination with other people, with ensemble, especially if you have a conductor, because normally Partch did not have one, and do you experience any kind of difficulties, for example the tuning that not match, or the instrument is very week compare to other instruments, percussion instruments maybe\u2026 Do you have these problems or do you discussed it with Thomas and\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15\u201903: it\u2019s not [forcedly] the case that we almost always played with amplification, you can\u2019t really get around it, especially if you have the Harmonic Canons, the Kitharas\u2026 And even with the Cloud Chamber Bowls, we know because we\u2019ve recorded Delusions<\/em> and we\u2019ve been listening back to it. With the Cloud Chamber Bowls you\u2019ve got very lowest gongs, glass gongs, you don\u2019t hear very well. And because you know you have the microphones up here and the gongs are down there and it picks up everything else but not that, what it\u2019s supposed to pick up. It\u2019s a problem. But there\u2019s\u2026 you always have to make comprefises\u2026 Comp\u2026 You always have to make compromises, even with amplification. It\u2019s not a [perfect] solution either. We don\u2019t discuss, or at least personally, I haven\u2019t discussed acoustic improvements with Thomas particularly\u2026 So, I don\u2019t know about that, but you asked about playing together, that\u2019s\u2026 That\u2019s usually\u2026 That can work very well if\u2026 But the problem we have is that we often play many pieces together, which require almost all of the instruments on stage. So even if you\u2019re playing a small chamber piece, with maybe four instruments, you might still have, be very far away from each other, because you know there is a Kithara in the middle of somewhere because that has to be there for the other piece. These are practical problems, and for Delusion of the Fury<\/em>, one of the things that Heiner did, Heiner Goebbles did, that looks very nice but it\u2019s completely impractical and I don\u2019t think Partch ever would have done, is to have everything, all the instruments on the stage in perfect lines, so that everything is very spread out and you see that, I mean\u2026 I think Partch hated straight lines, he would never have gone for that, but it looks really nice, but it also makes it difficult because you know you\u2019re on a perfect line and you can\u2019t see the Gourd Tree. I\u2019m sitting here on the Gongs and the Gourd Tree there\u2019s, there\u2019s a Kithara in the middle you know and\u2026 But you, you get around that somehow. We had solutions that somebody who is in the front would actually give a beat for us. So\u2026 we find\u2026 you know we find practical ways around this sort of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17\u201926: You asked also about improvements to the instruments\u2026 Like I said, I think if Partch had lived longer, he, he was always improving the instruments and it\u2019s just, you know that\u2019s a shame he passed away when he did. One practical solution I can think for the Harmonic Canons is if you look at the Turkish Canons, they have on the side, they have all this little levels where you just go zig zig zig zig zig and you\u2019re already in another tuning. It\u2019s very practical. We can\u2019t do that, we have to physically move bridges or we tune which is not recommended, even, even Partch says in the Genesis of music<\/em> that, you know, string instruments are extremely conservative. You put them in a tuning and they stay there. And it takes you know weeks before those settle into a new tuning so any tuning that has to be done is better to move, is better to move the bridges. But that also takes time, if you, you can\u2019t do that between every piece and if you spend the entire intermission of your concert moving tunings you don\u2019t get a break yourself and then you have to play some, yeah it\u2019s, it\u2019s stressful. So, that\u2019s, that\u2019s why we\u2019re a bit conservative here about saying \u201cokay guys, let\u2019s, let\u2019s use Partches tuning and if you wanna [write] another tuning than make, make a small adjustment, that\u2019s ok, but basically keep things the way they are.\u201d So.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18\u201951: (Eleni) to come a little bit back to the notation, do you really want to see only the strings that you\u2019re playing, because you\u2019re trusting that the tuning is stable or you really need to have the sound result as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19\u201908: as a player I don\u2019t need the sound result, it\u2019s ok, I think the version that Caspar Johannes Walter has, is, is good because it shows the, the pitch and the string number in a circle on top\u2026 That\u2019s fine. No I don\u2019t\u2026 I think it\u2019s good to have the resulting pitch just to know, see that you can spot mistakes or inconsistencies but for me, the, the inclusion of the string numbers is also a must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19\u201940: (Eleni) And do you have a preferable system according to the approximation of, for example, are quarter tons better for you or simple that it\u2019s higher or lower because\u2026 There is another problem about Ben Johnson actually has a lot of symbols for describing every harmonic and then in the end, in order to read a score it\u2019s almost impossible, you have to learn a new language, so\u2026 Which kind of approximation you would like to prefer? Because other composers, I mean I know Johannes that has like a kind of seventh, eleventh and the fifth, and then everything is approximated to that, so actually three new different symbols, but I saw composers that had quarter ton and even eighth ton as approximation. Which makes that maybe a little bit easier to have like two different symbols extra than\u2026 What is that for you\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20\u201943: I mean as a Harmonic Canon player, as long as you have the string number, it\u2019s I think you can be as precise as you want to be, because that main thing that you\u2019re going to look at is the string number. I\u2019m happy with Caspar Johannes Walter\u2019s system because I think Partch only went up to the eleventh, or maybe\u2026 I think only to the eleventh prime anyway, so I\u2019m ok with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21\u201910: (Eleni) And the ratios? Are you fast enough now or do you have to calculate, or did you had to calculate in the beginning?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21\u201918: To be honest, when, it\u2019s only, for the notation purposes I don\u2019t look much at the ratios, only when I have to tune the instrument am I really looking at the ratios. That. But when I, when I\u2019m reading the music I prefer either the notes or, you know preferably the string number, but [\u2026] the note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21\u201938: (Eleni) And would you like it to have it actually in blocks, I mean the notation, for example\u2026 I don\u2019t know\u2026 like a\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21\u201951: we can go over there and look at the notation if you like<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22\u201915: Yeah, like this, for Partch the string numbers, you see like a sounding here and\u2026 These are the kind of blocks you mean or?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22\u201924: (Eleni) no I mean like from one to eleven like as [block a], because then you find your orientation faster maybe if you have to play like independent strings and note. Partch did never use that, it\u2019s like\u2026 Yeah, always\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22\u201949: this is Carola Bauckholt\u2019s\u2026 Do you mean like this? No those are ratios\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23\u201906: (Eleni) I\u2019m not sure [\u2026] like a\u2026 I think one composer from Poland which I have the score that he marked like the blocks like right, left, and block A and then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23\u201921: Ah yeah, ah yeah, that\u2019s fine yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23\u201923: (Eleni) But [\u2026]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23\u201925: I don\u2019t have those scores with me. That\u2019s also, that\u2019s also fine. Yeah.
23\u201931: (Eleni) good. And how did you experience the all project of rebuilding the instruments yourself? Did you took part [\u2026] active? No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23\u201946: No I didn\u2019t. Only in so far as once the Cloud Chamber Bowls was finish. They were cut by the glass makers, and when we got them from the glass makers I had to make the, I had to make myself the, the things that were hang. Thomas cut the pieces of wood and I had, but I had to take the rope a make the actual things that they, that they depend on\u2026 myself, that\u2019s what\u2026 what I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24\u201917: (Eleni) and how was the project for you? I mean did you had feedback during the\u2026 all this years that\u2026 did you get to see the instruments in the making process?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24\u201932: no unfortunately I didn\u2019t. I didn\u2019t do that, I didn\u2019t do that at all. [And you know] just a\u2026 No, I was, I wasn\u2019t part of that. So, I can\u2019t say<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24\u201947: (Eleni) Yeah. So, I want to ask a personal question because that [invest] me. In case of what is historically correct and you mentioned that Partch would have continue to develop the instruments if he lived longer and that is my opinion, but I hear a lot of people saying that \u201cno, they have to be exactly one to one because he wanted it to be that way and we don\u2019t know if he actually wanted to develop them, and then we\u2019re kind of interfering in what is in the composer\u2019s, instrument maker\u2019s idea and I wanted to ask what is your opinion in that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25\u201937: well Partch\u2026 it\u2019s not my opinion but you can see that Partch, he was, he was always making revisions to pieces like\u2026 I mean, take the Kitharas for example. They are versions where he wrote for a, a piece, I think an example is one of his songs, I don\u2019t, I can\u2019t remember which one. It was written for a particular Kithara and, you know, that\u2019s, that\u2019s the original version. But he himself revisited it, went back, because he invented a better Kithara, and he went back and he changed the score. And I believe there are, I think also his [\u2026 bewitched?], there are also version of that with different Kitharas because once he has something better he used it. And I, I don\u2019t know I mean, I think if we get\u2026 I heard about developments that they\u2019re doing in the Swiss re, rebuilding [all] the instruments, that they\u2019re doing down in Basel, that they\u2019re also improving the Kithara, they\u2019re making some improvements. I think, I think that\u2019s a good thing, I think you can easily play all that, all the Partch repertoire on those instruments. And what I think you have to be true to is a particular\u2026 I think, you know, what we would call the [Geist] of Partch. Because I mean he build this instruments so that they can reflect the tuning that they\u2019re supposed to reflect and that they reflect the\u2026 yeah, the spirit of what he, the kind of music that he liked, which was, you know, he didn\u2019t wanted to sound academic at all, he didn\u2019t wanted to sound like an exact folk music, but it still, I think they still have to be made of wood or sound like wood, I mean if you made a Plexiglas Harmonic Canon that might be a little strange with a\u2026 Or if you decided to uses [goat] strings on them\u2026 That would be a little strange to, that\u2019s also not really in the spirit of, of the sound that he wants. In my opinion. Yeah, I mean they are different ways of improve, improving instruments. You know, I think some could go in the direction of what Partch wanted and others might go in the direction of, you know maybe wanted to play really loudly, which would go against the, also the spirit of Partch I think. It\u2019s, it\u2019s just my opinion. But\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
28\u201909: (Eleni) Could you tell me anything about the combination with classical instruments as we know how does this work, if you have to play the flute and the Harmonic Canon and what is it for you and how is the balance in sound, because Partch avoided that his all life, he never used\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
28\u201929: oh that\u2019s not true, no, he didn\u2019t\u2026 I think\u2026 [bewitched?], if I\u2019m not mistaking, yeah bewitch uses piccolo, bass clarinet and a couple of other instruments. It\u2019s a great piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
28\u201943: (Eleni) I don\u2019t remember that, but maybe, yes, hold on \/ we\u2019ve got the score upstairs I can show you \/ ok \/ I think it\u2019s wonderful. It\u2019s really, really wonderful, I [mean] as a combination so well. I don\u2019t think he has combined it with many other string instruments, it\u2019s mostly the percussion, the pitch percussion instruments and the classical instruments. It\u2019s great. For me personally, I don\u2019t mind and I don\u2019t mind adjusting to the tuning of the string instruments\u2026 I don\u2019t mind if it\u2019s, you know, if it\u2019s low enough, if it\u2019s\u2026 if it\u2019s in an environment where you can hear, actually, hear and adjust to it. If it\u2019s theoretical, no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29\u201925: (Eleni) for the new compositions that were commissioned, like, do you think it worked well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29\u201932: In\u2026 Yeah, I would say it worked. Well is just a matter of opinion. I think Carola Bauckholt\u2019s approach was really good because she also made the same attempts as Partch to reflect human speech and she chose instruments that could do that well, like a particular, a kind of recorder that Carl plays and the, and the violin, or the, the adapted viola, actually. So. Yeah, I think, I think as long as, as you can hear what\u2019s going on and you don\u2019t, you don\u2019t have some approach \u201coh this is theoretical, I want to do this\u201d, and you have to pull like an, the interval fifteen to eleven out of your pocket somewhere, and what is that\u2026 Then it\u2019s not\u2026 you know it\u2019s neither satisfying nor probably correct so\u2026 But if could hear, you could play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30\u201929: (Eleni) good. Do you think that they are losing something, the instruments, if they\u2019re not amplifying compare to other instruments? Normal instruments, I mean, do you think that the balance works the same for both categories?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30\u201947: I think the categories for all string instruments applied to even Partch string instruments, I mean the Kithara, the Kithara is still a Kithara, a harp is still a harp, the Harmonic Canons they have the same kind of strings, the same materials, they follow the same rules. As the percussion instruments, I mean a glass gong is a glass gong, and a wooden , you know a wooden marimbaphone is a wooden marimbaphone, except of course modern marimbas will probably be much more penetrant, no I take that back, the diamond marimba is extremely penetrant, it\u2019s a very penetrating instrument. So, I think, I think it\u2019s more dependent on the category of the instrument then actually if it\u2019s a Partch instrument or a modern instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
31\u201934: (Eleni) how is it for you changing instruments during a concert? Your normal instrument that you\u2019re [trading] to a Partch instrument and then back, do you change your philosophy, [like], body language that you\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
31\u201950: Maybe unconsciously but\u2026 But I don\u2019t think, I don\u2019t think so, no only when I, like I said, when I play Cloud Chamber Bowls I think it\u2019s the biggest change, because I\u2019m really active with both of my arms and I do, I do change my posture and my attitude, also because, you know as a flutist you often are in front of the ensemble or the orchestra. You are front close to the conductor and you\u2019re always like this, you\u2019re way in the back, you are like the tuba section of your, with, if you play Cloud chamber Bowls because you\u2019re always put way in the back, so of course you [had to do it] different, you have to be much more alert and watching people and you can\u2019t always look at the conductor, you have to play so, yeah it\u2019s different, completely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
32\u201938: (Eleni) would you like to play me something or? \/ I don\u2019t know if we have time, Hannah just\u2026 \/ oh yeah, we don\u2019t, but thanks very much \/ sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"