Excerpted from Strings magazine, August/September 2003, No. 112

Nest of Vipers

Of course, electronic processing of music is nothing new-it's been going on in the rock world for decades. Guitars fed through special effects that delay a signal, cause distortion, or create swirling chorus effects, and even electronically generated feedback, are all innovative techniques dating back to '60s rock-guitar pioneer Jimi Hendrix. But applying these alterations to cellos and violas is a much newer idea.

Composer, inventor, and performer Mark Wood, who studied at Juilliard long before technology became a focus there, has found a unique way to adapt rock electronics to stringed instruments: He designs and builds his own instruments. Several of his electrified Viper models had their Juilliard debut in April when the Electric Ensemble @ Juilliard used Wood's quartet to perform his original composition "Nest of Vipers."

Growing up as a violist in a musical family-Wood and his three brothers formed a string quartet of their own-he got to know all the classics. "After playing concerts of Mozart string quartets," he says, "I was coming home and putting Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles on the stereo. That was the music I could really relate to. Classical music is certainly more cultivated, but those groups were more of my time."

It's a sentiment to which many Juilliard students can relate. "The sense I am gathering from my students, and one of the reasons that Beyond the Machine is so successful and exciting," says Bilous, "is that these kids want to play music that has a direct connection to the world that they live in."

The instruments Wood built for the Electric Ensemble resemble their acoustic counterparts, but also sport some serious differences. For one thing, these instruments are strictly electric-they cannot be played without being plugged in-and each features an innovative harness that creates far less strain on the player. Even the cello is strapped to the body rather than resting on an endpin anchored to the floor. Clarice Jensen of the Electric Ensemble found this to be "Éboth liberating and odd. It does make for a lot more freedom as far as feeling the beat-I am able to move around more, instead of rocking back and forth in my chair. Also, bowing techniques are quite different: You barely have to touch the string and it sounds. So every move you make is much smaller."

Each Viper player also has a pedal board, much like the setup used by rock guitarists. "With the pedals," says Electric Ensemble violist Nadia Sirota, "the possibilities are endless. More rehearsal time was spent on orchestration-color changes that could be done manually through the pedal boards rather than thinking about making small changes physically on our instrument."

She adds, smiling, "We're not used to being conscious of our feet when we play.

Says Wood, "It's truly exciting for me to work with these young artists because most of them didn't even know what a wah-wah pedal is.

So when they got into it, it was a whole new world. Guitar players have known about this [approach] for a long time; string players are a bit behind."

To find out more about "Nest of Vipers," click here for the full story, photos, and video clip.

Say You Want an Evolution

In a way, this kind of forward thinking has always been a big part of the so-called classical tradition. "What I continually have to point out to my colleagues," says Bilous, "is that every single instrument we play represents some technological advancement over its predecessor. The acoustic instruments we have now really are a result of composers putting demands on the makers for instruments that make new sounds and have greater flexibility and greater expressive qualities. And they continue to make those demands, except that now the demands are made to software manufacturers and makers of electronic instruments.

"So this really is in keeping with a very old tradition."

Or in the words of Mark Wood, "It's called evolution."

Ultimately, both Wood and Bilous are aiming for relevance. "One of the interesting challenges for this kind of medium," says Bilous, "is that there are no 'classics' written for these instruments, no standard repertoire.

"None of this represents a disputation of or threat to the tradition," he adds. "Juilliard's central mission will always be to train students in playing the masterworks of classical music. The Electric Ensemble offers an opportunity for students to spread their wings, to broaden their perspectives and try some new things."

And, Bilous adds, there has been very little resistance to that trend in the typically staid conservatory climate. "Most people realize, as in every other walk of life and in every other industry, computers are playing an increasingly large role in the way we run our lives," he says. "And that's certainly true of music."

Ultimately, it is the allure of hipness-of Deep Elvis-and the societally coveted position of "rock star" that draws participants to these alternative sounds. "I am sure that every Juilliard music student-and even some of the faculty members-wish on some level that the energy that exists on any good rock record was available to them in classical music," says Bilous. "One of the most important things about our Electric Ensemble is that it gives students an opportunity to play music that is dangerous.

 

 

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