Premiere: Folkwang Universität der Künste, 2001, Philipp Kolb, quartertone Trumpet
I. Virtual Mirror, Tape Solo
II. Klangspiegel, Tape and Trumpet
III. Imaginary Mirror, Trumpet Solo
IV. Memory Mirror, Trumpet and Tape
The idea that gave birth to Klangspiegel (Sound Mirror) is the sound reflection of certain acoustic characteristics of the trumpet on the tape. The microscopic look of the internal life of a sound, through which we are possessed by a certain reality of the object, allows their projection throughout the perceptible domain. Fourier analysis (FFT) is the tool that we have to go through this passage from the microscopic time to the musical time. The amplitude/frequency pairs resulting from the five trumpet sounds of the FFT analysis are transformed by means of a set of algorithms (amplitude and frequency filters). The former instrumental re- synthesis inverts the role of object and reflected image.
Apart from the analysis of purely spectral data, there is also the observation of the time evolution of the 13 first partials of the trumpet, from which it is extracted a certain order, the "Gestalt". Applying this shape to a set of pitches and extracting the quartertones in their specific time relation to the rest, results in a particular rhythmic proportion. Therefore, the obtained rhythm is a consequence of the melodic shape that was achieved with the "Gestalt" and the set of pitches. The out coming rhythm is used as an archetype with various tone-combinations.
With the development of the compositional work, the idea of reflection has expanded to other aspects. The idea took the form of a temporal mirror, meaning, the reflection at the time axis of an entire section, emerging in the form of a summary. This can happen during long-lasting periods of time, or in the note-to-note domain; it can reflect the part immediately after or already passed sections, or it can be a summary of a parameter only - as for instance the rhythm - or of several parameters simultaneously
Excerpt of the Studio recording. Philipp Kolb, quartertone Trumpet Klangspiegel 1-2: Virtual Mirror-Klangspiegel Klangspiegel 4: Memory Mirror