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Kugelblitz

by Kurtis Burton

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about

This is a live recording of a piece I wrote for my advanced composition class at the DigiPen Institute of Technology. It is scored for Otomatone and live computer augmentation.

This piece is an exploration of textures for the Otomatone, a monophonic electronic instrument that is usually bought, performed, and used as a novelty device rather than as a serious
performance instrument. This piece attempts to recontextualize the Otomatone into a piece of music similar to the classic works of computer music from the ’70s and beyond, but without sacrificing the strange and humorous qualities of the instrument - namely the Otomatone mouth and the instrument’s abrasive timbre.

Playing traditional music on the Otomatone is unwieldy, which is part of the instrument’s design. I chose to instead focus on monophonic textures I feel suit the instrument well.

The monophonic glissandi and trills of the instrument - two facets I found to be strong gestures on the Otomatone - are augmented with pitch-shifted copies of itself via computer technology. Over
the course of the piece, the performer will play their part accompanied by twisted echoes of their own performance.

I designed the unconventional score and performance around both the fact that the Otomatone is not well-suited for the performance of traditional scores, and because I wanted someone with little-to-no music experience to be able to perform the Otomatone part of this piece.

Much like the instrument itself, the effects used in this piece are often abrupt, strange, and abrasive, but in a way that is performable and uniquely beautiful. If I’m happy with any one aspect of this piece, it is that I feel I captured the character of the Otomatone itself.

credits

released April 27, 2018
Composer/Live Pd Patch Engineer: Kurtis Burton
Performer: Brooke Robertson
Live Mixer/Recording Engineer: Greg Dixon

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Kurtis Burton Redmond, Washington

Discovered music by slapping a piano once. Only stopped slapping pianos upon the discovery that weirder noises can be made with computers.

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