Output details

The Boom and the Bap

This piece explores the sonorities of genres that have grown from hip-hop, such as Jungle, drum ‘n’ bass and Dubstep. The Boom and the Bap (bass and snare) is scored for a small drum kit and MIDI drum pad, with live electronic processing using MAX/MSP. Almost all the electronic sound heard in the piece is generated in real-time, using processing techniques developed specifically for the piece. These include envelope following, granular synthesis and real-time synthesis based on attack detection and attack timing. For instance, a so-called dub step wobble bass is triggered by the attack of the bass drum: the speed of the wobble (filter sweep) is determined by the time between bass drum attacks. Real-time synthesis as well as other effects were realized using Gen, a new feature of MAX/MSP. Much of the processing is tempo dependent; particularly delay-based effects, as well as some rhythmic patterns that utilizing live sampled sound. For flexibility of expression, the tempo of the piece can be varied during performance using the midi pad. The piece juxtaposes a free A section, with a more metronomic beat-driven B section. Flexibility is a feature the piece, enabling the option of improvisation. Once familiar with the piece, the performer can vary the structure and speed, or use the patch as an improvisation tool. The effects settings and routings can be reset at each cue, providing a wide variety of performances options. The piece was composed for Joby Burgess who has performed it nineteen times nationally and internationally; it is recorded on CD (Signum Records). A requirement was that it should be performable without the intervention of a sound engineer. Therefore, the piece can run on a laptop onstage with microphones plugged directly into an audio interface. This method was successful in eight US performances.