Stories – Mirjam Tally

The Avenue

mirjamtally — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 12:50:23 +0000

The avenue (2021) for Bass Clarinet, Paetzold contrabass recorder & Guitar. Written for Trio Vilse.

The avenue is an entrance to the primeval forest. Neat rows of trees (=rhythmic sections in my work) are interrupted by melody lines that represent echoes of the past when the trees were allowed to grow wild without human intervention. The dreamy melodies represent the world that has been lost. Through an avenue, you gradually get closer to the dream forest, which you can create as you wish, as the wild forest is no longer there.
The dream forest is something that only exists in the artificial world, in a computer game where you create the forest yourself from different fantasy plants and trees. You might put together your own forest of trees that have existed in the past, in geographically dispersed areas. For example, in the customised dream forest you might have a tree from the Mesozoic period growing next to European conifers.
Talking about the compositional process, I thought that the different instruments are characters (=different trees) in the forest, and I use some different kinds of noise and air sounds, and there are melodies, as a relic of the past times.
– Mirjam Tally

Strengur

mirjamtally — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 16:45:34 +0000

It was a pleasure to work with the excellent Icelandic violinist and composer Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir based in Malmö, Sweden in her project ‘strengur’.

‘strengur’ is a set of five groups of three pieces, each group created in deep collaboration with a long-term creative partner.

In this audiovisual work “Strengur”, Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttirs graphical score was the inspiration source for both visual and musical material.
I created the electroacoustic composition first, using electronics, percussion and vocals, blended with extended techniques of baroque violin, recorded with Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir. Percussive objects were recorded in Furillen peninsula, Gotland island. The visual part of ‘strengur’ was created using my own photos of nature and color reflection. The process of creating visuals was to blend and mix the photos first, then creating short “movies” of these photos. The last step was sorting the short movies to a larger format, starting with dark themes, slowly moving towards lighter themes. The idea was also to “imitate” red ink (originally reflections) lines on the canvas.

The whole album project ‘strengur’ was released by Carrier Records on August 26, 2022.

On the set of albums, there are wonderful works by Luong Hue Trinh, David Brynjar Franzson, Halla Lovísa Loftsdóttir and Kent Olofsson.

Listen on Bandcamp

Strengur album

Apparitions

mirjamtally — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 05:02:30 +0000

“Apparitions” (2023) has nearly a religious title for several reasons. The music conveys the spiritual world in the form of soundscapes with ghostly moods. Prolonged dark sounds are lightened by choir-like flashes of light and overtones. Pop-like rhythms are mixed with hissing, whispers and multitones, rubber balls run along strings, the double bass screaming loudly and the bassoon hissing like a teapot with boiling water. Blowing sounds roll in like the waves on the beach and the voices inhale like asthmatics do. In my work I use a whole palette of different advanced playing techniques on several instruments combined with voices and electronic material. For several years I have been collecting sounds, mostly in Sweden and Iceland. Recorded sounds of harpsichord (Guðrún Óskarsdóttir), double bass (Jonas Nilsson), voice (Matilda Andersson and Mirjam Tally) and bassoon (Anders Matell). Commissioned by the Swedish Radio P2 channel.

Sky Over the Lake

mirjamtally — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:11:23 +0000

Sky Over The Lake (2023) for mixed choir and sound objects. Text by Ann Keniston. P: Swedish Radio Choir, c. Kaspars Putnins, Arve Henriksen (trumpet), Anders Jormin (contrabas), Sinikka Langeland (kantele). Baltic Sea Festival 2023.
Mysterious lake. Silence and emptiness. A lonely kayak passing in the dark near the dock. The faint noise of the boat engine. The mysterious pull of darkness and the silvery glow of moonlight. The ghostly whispers of the wind, the long shadows of the trees, heavy silence. The world begins and ends in darkness, like a closed circle.

My composition is a meditation on the effect of darkness on the mind. Heavy thoughts will creep forward in the presence of night, faint whispers and faded memories will haunt in distorted reality. One might get a glimpse of the Moon´s dark side, which is always in the shadow, and which one will never see from Earth. Of the lakes that have dried up and are always on the shadow side, pierced by craters.

Ann Keniston – Dock
sky over the lake, an emptiness
on an emptiness
the paler space
of sky retained
useless as the kayak passing in the near dark
close by the dock
not metaphor or ghost

/…/

Snake Charmer

mirjamtally — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:10:24 +0000

In June, we recorded material that a little later became a new work, “Snake Charmer” (2013). At the Visby International Centre for Composers, Jorge Variego, a composer and (bass)clarinetist was a visiting guest, and he suggested he could record some sounds in the studio. I took the opportunity, although I didn´t have any commission in the pipeline where I would need to record such sounds. But I dreamt of creating my own sound library, and then being able to pick sounds for different projects I work on. For example, for film. I’m most interested in recording “noise and shit” with acoustic instruments, perhaps also exploring some of the playing techniques that I have been unfamiliar before. Later on, I might be able to record voice as well. The possibilities are almost endless. Each voice has its own personality, in a different way than an instrument. You would have to record a lot of people!
Anyway, Jorge was quite open to exploring the sound of the (bass) clarinet, and showed me some new noises. Before our recording session, I wrote a little sketch for ourselves what kind of sounds I wanted to record.

Some examples of sounds we tested: breath-tones without certain pitch (inhale/exhale). Here we tested mostly with “long tones”; then adding whispers to the breath tones, both with short and long consonant combinations, short in staccattissimo (super sharp and short sounds). The best results are achieved if one whispers to half-open mouthpiece, not covering it completely with lips. And vary playing the keys randomly.
The most interesting thing for me was recording multiphonics and bisbigliando‘s, as well as frullato‘s. I got a whole library of them!

Later, I continued working in the studio and the final result was a fifteen-minute piece created musique concrète style, with recorded acoustic sounds. I didn’t try to totally transform them, because I wanted them as they were, without them becoming too “synthetic” when run through filters. The biggest job was cutting, which I did in Pro Tools. Then I ran my usual tools, such as pitch shift and some reverse. Short cut files I split on many tracks.

The basic idea was to start with different kinds of noise, and later more and more tones would be added. The work would culminate in a cloud of bisbigliando‘s and multiphonics, which are layered on top of each other, like a chorus of creaking, complaining ghosts. At the end is some kind of reprise where the noise material from the beginning returns. Later I made a shorter version of the piece.
The finished mix reminded me of some kind of working mechanism, or a factory. I have been stuck in such sounds since I wrote the orchestral piece Turbulence (or even before, with the piece Blow). It is such sounds that attract me. I just hope that not all works will eventually be the same. You should have some kind of variety in your writing.
Some of the sounds, especially bisbigliando’s on the other hand, remind me of an Arab-oriental old man, who lures snakes with his playing, that’s why I chose such a title.

Shorter examples, with a cloud of bisbigliando’s and multiphonics:

Turbulence

mirjamtally — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:09:40 +0000

Turbulence (2006) for symphony orchestra.

Crosswinds, flickering, a breeze. The sound of a ferry coming ashore, or a plane shivering in a tempest. These and other ideas used in this work came to life during a ferry trip to Hiiumaa island, listening to various noises of the engine and the rattling of the ship, until, suddenly, music emerged from the noise — strong and powerful.
The ideas were further developed during some plane trips, and there was even a part played by a “wistful factory” in Visby that, due to complaints from the neighborhood, no longer “sings”, but once inspired me with the sounds of its machinery.
A symphony orchestra, which uses electric instruments and alters its sound live, augmenting classical soundscapes with modern technology. Here, natural sounds meet mechanical sounds, weaving a unified musical fabric. The result is a sonorous jungle illustrating the workings of a machinery and the beauty of creaks and rattles therein; sounds that are so common in our landscapes and environment, and so often considered terrible, but true gems nonetheless.

One of my inspiration sources in Turbulence: The “singing” factory near Visby.

We just passed the factory at nighttime and heard it “singing”. Then we recorded the factory in different times and discovered it’s “singing tone” depended on wind – with more wind it had more different notes in it’s squeak-melody. Unfortunately now this factory is silent due to people who lived in neighborhood and complained about this strange (but quite silent) melodies. I haven’t used these recordings in my music, but it has been an important source of inspiration in this piece.

In 2009, Tally’s orchestral work “Turbulence” was selected as one of recommended works at International Rostrum of Composers. She has received 2 prizes for her work “Turbulence” – the Composer Prize of the Estonian Music Days Festival (2007) and the small Christ Johnson Music Prize (2008) by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Listen on Soundcloud

The Birds for Company

mirjamtally — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:08:52 +0000

The Birds for Company (2014)

Birds are more an abstract source of inspiration in this piece, more like fantasy-birds, or cyber-birds, or from ancient times, when tyrannosaurus rex and other ancient animals ruled the world. Some techniques though, for instance, the vertical rustle, reminds flapping of wings of a big and clumsy bird. Some fragmented melody-lines, which appear later, are inspired of birds as well, of their motions appearing suddenly.

My future plans were to record the work and create an electroacoustic version of this using Pro Tools, to place several recorded sounds on several tracks and create some kind of soundscape. Possibly also transpose some sounds (the basic principle is the same as in the work Blow where a whole “choir” of e.g. wind sounds has been created).

This is a work that consist of improvisational elements and noise. Together with cellist Aare Tammesalu, I had an opportunity to explore odd playing possibilities on a cello.

Material which I used for creating tape part: first, we recorded the whole cello piece, then I edited the whole material in Pro tools, using mostly reverse and transpose tools. Finally, I placed the same material on different layers.

New Moon Morning

mirjamtally — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:05:48 +0000

New Moon Morning (2012) for 4 amplified flutes and tape

29/7 Just recorded my new piece “New Moon Morning” (2012) this weekend, which I wrote for the flute quartet “40f”, plus a band part. This piece has evolved over a long time, in collaboration with the quartet, we had a workshop in Stockholm which helped me a lot to correct and finalise the piece (almost).

When I was in Tallinn in June, we discussed some creative plans with filmmaker Ülo Pikkov, with whom I have been collaborating for several years. He has an experimental film in the works, and was looking for music. Without having heard the music, he fell in love with the idea of whispering flutes. (This is Kristiina Ehin’s poem whispered in English).

But here at the Visby International Composers’ Centre, I had only invited Anna Svensdotter to record all the parts. It was inspiring. With Jesper’s help, the whole thing took maybe 4-5 hours and then we were done. Absolutely incredible. I wish I could work with musicians directly in the studio more often. Now it only remains to mix and play with sound volumes of different tracks. We amplified the flute so that there were 2 mics for each instrument, which means eight tracks + separate tracks for tape and reverb. But the whole arrangement made it easier to get as much whisper sound as possible, to make it sound as clear as possible.

1/8 Now the piece is fully mixed and a small short example of this can be heard here:

In this piece, three things are really in focus:
– the melodic lines and overblows of the flutes.
– whispers of Kristiina Ehin ́s poem – the band voice.
I didn’t want to lose the colourful palette of sounds in the tape part. So I’ve taken it up quite a bit to make it equal to the flutes. So you could say that this version is more like an EAM piece. For me the most important part was the whispers, which I’ve raised the most, sometimes even messing with the volume curves unnaturally, so that the crescendos stand out more. Then I added the studio reverb on the flutes, but made several different versions also with “drier” acoustics.

The form of the piece consists of 2 longer sections (the first part is divided into 2). It is all notated quite freely and the hardest part for me was figuring out the timelines of how long a “beat” should be. Timings above the parts synchronise all this with the tape part, and the arrows show which of the flutes is the one that has been synchronised with this (see various examples below).
Here noise sounds and whispers are mixed with melody lines, and the culmination of the piece builds on the melody lines, which otherwise stand out from time to time among the noise and the soundscape of the band part. The melody lines are repeated freely over a period of time.

I wrote the piece by first composing the tape part in Logic and using the Omnisphere synthesiser. At the same time I was sketching flute parts in parallel, and the aim of the tape part was to adapt this to my idea of the “whispering flautists”. I also tried to find sound material that would enhance the mood of the poem, which is about an early morning, the new moon, where you look out of the window of your room or soul and everything stands still (etc). I have always liked Kristiina Ehin ́s poems, because they are somehow so down-to-earth (in the best sense of the word) and poetic.

The End / Last year’s sun still glitters in the drop of water

mirjamtally — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:05:08 +0000

The End (2012) experimental film by Ülo Pikkov, music by Mirjam Tally “Last year’s sun still glitters in the drop of water”, edited version. P: Anna Svensdotter (flute) + electronics.

Experimental animation by Ülo Pikkov.

Estonia / 6 min

In modern times, audiovisual culture spreads and develops more than ever, but the classical film print as a material is forced to back down in the face of digital solutions. Film stock, which was once synonymous with film, is destined to disappear. It is thought that when a person dies, his whole life runs before his eyes. But what would a century-old filmstrip see before it finally looses its standing to digital media? Is it cut- off film frames, a filmstrip scratched to shreds, or something else?

The experimental animation film THE END is an homage of sorts to film as a material. The name of the film – THE END – is the key to understanding its concept. As a rule, films end with the title frame THE END and then the film is gone… but if digital films really do end with the frame THE END, then films on film prints don’t – after the final frame, the film continues for about 5-6 seconds. This is technical material that isn’t meant for the viewer, but to help the projectionist, and thus it carries different technical markings. THE END presents the viewer with the visual world that exists after the film has officially ended.

THE END exposes the film print as a material, the nature of the many layers of emulsion and color, possible different framings and the signs of wear that are created by repeated screenings. The base material for THE END is the remains of film prints that have been written off. They come from different cinemas and archives. They are the worn frames from the beginning and the end, which weren’t ever meant for the viewers’ eyes. Unlike modern digital film media, every screening of a classical film print leaves at least some scratch on the material. This is a film about time and it’s ephemeral nature.

About musical material: this piece is kind of “duet” between flute and tape. First I recorded flute part, which I ́ve modified in Pro Tools, added some effects and other layers (synth). The flutist plays the live part, slightly later than it ́s sounding in tape part. The score is organised by approximate timelines.

Blow

mirjamtally — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:04:25 +0000

The electro-acoustic composition “Blow” (2005) is created in Studio Alpha at Visby International Centre for Composers. In this piece I picked out some more characteristic sounds from my everyday environment: bottle blowing, heavy rain-drops on my window, pizzicato of wine-glasses… and developed these sound sources further to imaginary “blowing-landscape” where a wind never becomes silent. So, the key question is – to listen to the world and notice these “noises” of everyday life. I often follow this principe when I work with electronics. And every sound could be treated as music. I think, if you are a composer, it´s important to listen to the world what surrounds us and really live with open ears. And – pick up these sounds for your music.

Sound sources in Blow:

The basic material is bottle-blowing. The musical material is recorded at home and later processed in Studio Alpha (with Pro Tools), using distortion-effect. I transposed and placed the material to several layers. The result is kind of “bottle-choir”.
The heavy rain-drops on my window.
So-called pizzicato with wineglasses: it means various collection of sounds: putting wine-glasses to a floor, spilling a water from one glass into another, clang to each-other.

“Blow” (2007, film by Ülo Pikkov) is an experimental animation, which visual style and aesthetics follows the film’s music. This is a visualization of Mirjam Tally’s electro-acoustical composition “Blow”. The visual material is filmed with a 8mm film-camera. The film reflects how the rhythms of people and environment affect each other. As a butterfly´s wing stroke can cause a storm, might a powerful storm cause a butterfly’s wing stroke.