The keyboard part for FANFARE is simple, consisting of one melodic line. That line, which is realized as a highly melodramatic vocaloid voice. It is accompanied by a digital Mellotron, which plays chords that incorporate a degree of randomness and so will change on each performance. The visuals are performed by another person with a Max patch.

The kind of vocal style that is being imitated here is a signifier of grandiosity and emotional depth on one hand, and purity and polish, values which represent to me an absolute lack of emotional depth, on the other. Many initiation rituals must occur before someone is permitted to perform in such grandiose ways. Performers must purify themselves. From one perspective, every person's birth is a dice roll...every moment of every second of our lives is a dice roll...really living is not about crossing your fingers and hoping for a 6. This piece is an ode to those who endeavor beyond rituals of purity and polish that are designed to strip you of yourself, who still remember how to roll, and who will always return.

Performance #2 at Regenstein Hall at Northwestern Univeristy. For future reference: I got a little excited, and so this performance was slightly rushed - but the visuals are finalized.

Performance #1 at my Senior Recital at the Birenbaum at Oberlin College.

Keyboard: Claudia Hinsdale. Visuals: Jack Hamill.
Performance #0: Soundcloud "demo" recording.