The Duo Gillis Cunningham (Glen Gillis alto saxophone, James E Cunningham didgeridoo and live electronic effects) recently participated in the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. The conference was hosted March 8-11, 2018 by the University of Cincinnati at the expansive College Conservatory of Music (CCM) facility on campus.
The purpose of the DGC’s visit was to present the world premier of a new composition “Total Eclipse (of the sun), ” which was inspired by the 2017 eclipse that bisected North American on August 21st. Utilizing time-lapse projected video of the eclipse and real-time electro-acoustic convolution reverberation effects, the duo performed an eight-and-a-half minute audio/visual reenactment of the moon gradually obscuring the sun, and revealing its bright corona as a brilliant ring of fire and light.
Below is the original projected footage, to which has been added the live audio feed from the concert itself.
“Total Eclipse (of the sun)” University of Cincinnati, CCM, 3/10/18.
In addition to the equally technical and florid alto sax part, composed and performed by Glen, which climaxed in a two-minute solo cadenza, the piece was grounded and supported by Jamie playing an ascending drone on the didj flute, a red-cedar instrument with four finger holes and an interior labyrinth that sonically triples its two-foot exterior length.
Both musicians were miked with DPA d:vote DAD4099 clip-on mics, whose supercardioide characteristics alleviated both bleed-through and feedback potential.
Both mics were connected to a Macbook Pro computer via an Antelope Zen Tour thunderbolt interface.
The computer’s Logic DAW environment was utilized to process the microphone signals in real time through the Altiverb 7 convolution reverberation software,
…which afforded the opportunity to place the didj flute inside the giant ambiently reflective interior of the Gol Gumbaz dome, creating an out-of-this-world sonic effect.
The debut of “Total Eclipse” at NASA [pun intended] was a grand chance to test out the piece, which may perhaps be one of our strongest compositions yet. The duo has several events and projects coming up this summer, including performances at the International SaxOpen Congress in Zagreb, Croatia in July, and a new album project scheduled in early August. Please stay tuned.