Beschreibung
Ngumbang – Ngisep is my first encompassing step into the world of micro-intervallic concepts. However, in this case there is no relation to a special micro-intervallic system. Rather it is an investigation into the sound world of beats created by two or more pitches with close frequencies. The resulting psycho-acoustical phenomenon – beats (or „Schwebungen“ in German) of dynamics – is the basis of the whole composition. It also explains the title (Balinese language), because in Balinese gamelan music, always two similar instruments with a slight intervallic deviation are considered a pair. When the same keys of such two instruments are beaten simultaneously, the resulting middle-pitch (the actual perception) has some beats depending on the difference of the two participating basic frequencies. For the Balinese, only then is a sound „living“. In that case, the slightly
lower instrument has the „ngumbang“-tuning while the slightly higher one is called „ngisep“. Actually there is no other relation to Balinese music, except this aspect and a certain preference for metallic sounds which often create beats in their respective frequency structures themselves. The so-called „nicophone“ (see below) is such an instrument with complex and mostly non harmonic spectra as it with gongs and cymbals.
Beside the phenomenon of beats (which, for me, also creates a certain transcendental aura), the piece is based on harmonic structures that are derived from those nicophones. There is also an ongoing tension between individual and collective playing as one of the main expressive elements in my music. This may even lead to certain deviations from the score in the process of its realization, but at the same time it is an integral aspect of my
idea of performance. Consequently a performance without a conductor is preferred.
