Child's Play:a Collection of Three Pieces for Instruments and Fixed Electronic Media

Abstract

"Child's Play" is a collection of three pieces for instruments and fixed electronic media inspired by the sounds of my daughter's toys. The first piece, "With My Eyes Shut" is for clarinet and fixed electronic media, the second piece, "Noises Everywhere" is for fixed electronic media, and the final piece, "Child's Play" is scored for flute, clarinet, cello, piano, and fixed electronic media. "With My Eyes Shut" is an exploration of a single sound produced on a plastic recorder. All of the electronic material is derived from this single sound. The piece is centered on diatonic pitch relationships and incorporates the clarinet as a motivic vehicle to progress through the piece. "Noises Everywhere" is inspired by a snippet of text from the classic children's book "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown, a book my daughter and I love to read at bedtime. The foundation of the piece is a recording of a Fisher-Price "Happy Apple" toy. The toy has a unique resonance that provides the overall sonic timbre and pitch material of the piece. The final piece in the collection, "Child's Play," in contras to the other works in the collection, is a rhythmically driven work. The piece is inspired by rhythmic activity produced by a child's squeaky toy. This sound makes up all of the material in the fixed electronic medium. In the piece, the instruments and fixed electronic medium share the rhythmic responsibility, creating a regular, but often syncopated texture.