Paweł Siek

…the skies would be frozen, if they were not high-cut filtered...

...небеса б замерзли, якщо б не було очищено їх найвищіх складових…

for double bass and electronics

( 2017)
 Paweł Siek

…the skies would be frozen, if they were not hi-cut filtered…

for double bass and electronics

(Lviv 2017, rev. Louisville 2017)

duration: 6’00’’

premiere: 29.03.2017, Lviv Philharmonic Hall

Nazar Stets — double bass
Double bass

The piece is written for a 4-string double bass with a C extension.

Secondary options include: 5-string D.B. with low B (preferably) or low C string.
If necessary, the piece can be also performed on a standard 4-string (EADG-tuned) double bass.

Standard tuning applies.

Additional items

double bass damper (=mute): practice (=“hotel”) mute (more difficult version) or standard mute (easier version)

ice scraper
anit-smog (anti-pollution) mask
music stand

Electronics set-up

device (portable compter — Mac/PC)

computer stand (if stable only!: another music stand adapted)
for D.B. player’s use

for playing:

movie file .wmv/.mov

(audio: electronics + video: scrolling score/instructions)

through:

mixer
stereo system:
2 speakers disposed closely to the D.B. player, one on each side (LR) —
— becoming an artificial “extension” of the instrument sound technician may be involved

(does not have to be)

if there are more (extra) speakers available —they should be disposed close to the audience,
providing even more integration of the instrument and the audience.
 D.B. signs

D.B. part should be executed with very precise timing — scorefollowing movie significally facilitates this task.
Two staff notation is being used:

RH _______ right hand: standard D.B. notation — includes RH bowing information and left hand position (pitch)

(+lh) (+ lef hand occasionally) (in case the LH is involved into producing sounds on a upper stave)

LH ________ left hand: stave dedicated exclusively for a LH notation, which may include: 1) position 2) moving "position"
3) tapping the string
up/down the string,
if LH does not use this dedicated staff nor is included in RH staff —rests are written on LH staff against fingerboard
producing a scratchy
if LH does not use this dedicated staff but is included in RH staff — no rests are written on LH staff
sound (some tension
necessary)

normal position dietro pont. (behind the bridge): behind the bridge musical engraving font gets smaller.
AST ST ORD SP ASP asp sp ord rev. asp
Tabular notation system applies: notated pitches indicate more likely on which string the sound be procuded (G for the 1st
string, D for 2nd string etc.) than the actual sounding-pitch result (which may vary depending on a single instrument):
II
also aplies 2) natural harmonics —proportional division of the string
1) open strings (tabular notation)
based (normal-position-like); sp (and not reversed sp) side
is much more convenient to use

3) multiphonics
based on nat. harmonics
+ proper bow position and tension
needed; (P.A.=accurate pression)

4) inverted multphonics
based on nat. harmonics (dietro pont.)
+ proper bow position and tension asp sp ord ord rev. sp rev. asp
needed; (P.A.=accurate pression);
inverted bow position applies! bow
this: or this: side

superposition —playing very high

on a string (in a very LH high position)
Those techniques indicated above are also used in normal position. In this instance, indicated pitch should always equal
to the sounding-pitch result, however (tabular notation doesn't applies).
Other techniques used in both normal position and dietro pont. postion are explained on the following page.
bow control

inverted bow position — (back to the)

LH reach over the regular bow position
bow position on the string
standard cresc./dim.
(mixed)

regular (horizontal) bowing vertical bowing crosswise bowing

circular bowing

(directly under the timeline:)

RH pressure (= bow pressure) LH pressure (= finger pressure)

rhythm and dynamics guides

standard cresc./dim. more intensive and more expressive cresc./dim.

figure accel./rall. — speeding up/slowing down the tempo of the musical figure (streching it/
unloose it); always maintaining the general tempo (following timeline) though.
To make it easier, prompts for the general tempo (small-engraved rhytmic values) are sometimes provided:

Any theatrical actions to be performed are explained in the frames. Often with accompying graphics.
perform. breath. live.
 ...the skies would be frozen, if they were not high-cut filtered...
...небеса б замерзли, якщо б не було очищено їх найвищіх складових...
Paweł Siek
Lviv 2017 / rev. Louisville 2017
00:00 00:08 00:12
ELECTRONICS 00:02 00:04 00:06 00:10 00:14

e= 90 / q = 45 rev.
dietro pont. arco

≤0 ≥ ≤
asp asp
ASP asp
II (sempre dietro pont.)

? 2 ≈ ®œ œ œ . œ
0 0 ric. 3 col legno batt. (50%)
6 ric.3

≈ ≈ ‰ Œ ‰.
0

œ œ
3 00

#O #O ≈ # O. O. O. O. # O. O. O. O.
DOUBLE BASS
4 œ
œ œ
œ ‰ ≈ œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ
œ.
˙
˙
˙
˙
p
RH
œ F P Ø
(+lh)

3
f f IV

? b¿
tapping (normal position)

LH b¿ n¿ glissando ¿ glissando glissando

E. 00:16 00:18 00:20 00:22 00:24 00:26 00:28 00:30

P.A.
(sempre dietro pont.)
**
rev. asp
spiccato multiphonic
asp damper ON

≤
O. O. O.
col legno batt. (50%)

≤ ≥œ *
ss.

? ( œ ) Oœ. . O. œ O. . O. ( œ ) Oœ. O. œ0.

O ( œ) ( ) ( œ ) O ( œ )
. Oœ O O .
œ ( )
O Oœ ..
œ( )
œ. œ. œ. œ.
≈ Œ ‰ ≈ ∑
gli

RH: takes a damper

œ ≈ ≈ ( ) ( )œ œ J ÷
0

œ ( œ) (œ) ( ) œ
RH 0

p
(+lh)

P F p
F
decided,
scratchy
3 3
¿
3 3
dietro pont.
j
sound
D.B.
? #¿ ≈ ≈
poco decresc.
¿
LH R ∑ & ≈
¿ ..
¿
¿ ..
glissando
¿
¿ ‰ ∑
¿
F

* aciton necessary only if using "practice" mute

** if using standard mute – the action of putting damper on should be well-marked (even excessively)
 E.
00:32 00:34 00:36 00:38 00:40 00:42 00:44 00:46 00:48 00:50 00:52 00:54

≤ ≤
≤≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ...
K
≥ ≤≥
≤
rot. leg.

® ¿r¿ ¿ ¿ – j .
bow on the rib

¿ ‰ ‰ ¿ œ. ¿ ≈ ¿ ≠. ¿ ¿ . ®
3 3 rotated 3 rot. leg. rot. without legno sound
3

‰¿¿ ‰ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿¿¿ ¿ ¿¿¿¿ ¿ ¿ – ¿‰ Œ –.

legno

? Œ ∑ Œ
J R J R R
f P f
RH

ƒ F
ã
damper OFF

¿¿ ..
D.B. producing some sound

¿
nd o sempre dietro pont.

‰.
glissa
∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ‰ ‰ Œ ∑ Œ ? #¿
if possibile

LH & ¿¿ .. # ¿
RÔ
F **
LH: puts down
damper fastly

00:56 01:04 01:12

E. 00:58 01:00 01:02 01:06 01:08 01:10 01:14 01:16 01:18

≤
rot. without legno

j
sound

≈ ¿¿≠
put the bow on the strings

?Œ ¿ ‰
without moving it

RH
J Œ –– Œ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
P rK rK rK rK rK rK [no sound]
rK
? .. ..
®Œ ‰
¿
# ¿ .. .. ‰ Œ
¿
# ¿ .. .. Œ ‰
¿
# ¿ .. Œ ‰ ..
¿
# ¿ .. .. ®Œ ≈.
¿
‰ ‰ ≈.
¿ ¿ ¿ .. ..
D.B.
#¿ #¿ #¿ ¿
sempre dietro pont.
glissando
.. # ¿ .. # ¿ .. # ¿ . # ¿ .. # ¿ # ¿ # ¿ ¿ ..
LH
J J J J #¿ #¿ ¿ J
R
F Í Í Í Fp Í Í F
rather sctratchy (e sim.)

01:20 01:28 01:30 01:32 01:36

E. 01:22 01:24 01:26 01:34 01:38 01:40

dietro pont.
arco (P.A.) (P.A.)

r
I string

O ≈‰
back to the
normal position

O
3 col legno

O
dietro pont.

O œ. œ. œ. œ. œ œ. . œ. . œ. .
? OOO O . O O O. O O.
ASP

. œ. œ. . . . .
batt. (50%)

‰ ≈ ≈
asp

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
sp
#( Oœ ) (œ ) O #O
0

œ0 œ œ œ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ≈œœœ œœ œ .œ œ . œ œ .œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
RH
R
rev. rev.

πp 3pp
(+lh) mult.

P
mult.

π P F ƒ
3 3

P p pp
3 3
3 3 3 3
D.B. 3 3 3 3

? œœœ ... ‰ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
œ.
LH

** if using standard mute – the action of putting damper off should be well-marked (even excessively)
2 (applies for every following putting ON/OFF damper action in the piece)
...the skies would be frozen, if they were not hi-cut filtered...
 01:42 01:44 01:48
01:52 01:54 01:56 01:58 02:00 02:08 02:10
E. 01:46 01:50 02:02 02:04 02:06

(normal position)
NAT
superposition

b œo . ÷ b œo œo œo œo œo œo œo b œo
(sempre dietro pont.)

bœ œ
superposition SP
asp ast multiphonic

? J J ‰ Œ
rev. mult.

∑ ≈& ‰ Œ ≈
harmonic
asp
RH ( ˙O) (˙O) (œO) .. (œO) O O. O
R
p F f p
(+lh)

f F 3
P3 P
3
π
p
shuffling the objects / changing their locations

ã
D.B.
P
damper ON

P
(i.e. moving from one music stand to another)

? ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
LH

02:12 02:14
02:16 02:22
02:24 02:26
E. 02:18 02:20

NAT
oASP F
œo . o o o o o ≤
figure rall.
œ ≥
oœ œo b œ œ œo œo œo b œ œ œo œo œo œ
dietro pont. (dietro pont.)
asp
≤
6

O
glissando sp

‰? ≈ ®( œ )
O O O. O O
&
# O ( œ) # O
# Oœ ( œ ) #O ≈ Œ Œ ‰ œ O
œ O O
O
# Oœ ( ) œ O
RH
#O
( ) œ
(+lh)

F π
damper
ã
3

F
3 3 3 3
D.B. 3
OFF

? –– .. ––
6

LH ‰ ≈
J ã LH: puts down *

f scratchy sound
lean the heal of the LH against the mute / bridge damper fastly

02:32 02:36 02:40

E. 02:28 02:30 02:34 02:38 02:42

(dietro pont.)
sp

[j
asp
figure accel. normal r
[œ. œ ]
figure poco rall.
6
position
ASP
œ œ ]
O O O O
œœ
6 0 6
O
0 0 0

? O O O O O O O O #¥ nœ ¿
œœœœ ≈‰
glissando
O O O O O O O O O #O nœ œ œ œ ¿ ¿
ST
O O æ æ æ æ æ æ O #O nœ œ œ œ ¿ ¿
P
RH
#O nœ œ ¿
(+lh)

D.B.
6 6 6 6

ƒ
P f ƒ IV
tapping

ƒ Ï
6

¿ # ¿ glis
(normal

?
figure accel. s.
∑ ∑ Œ ‰
position)

LH

ƒ
3
...the skies would be frozen, if they were not hi-cut filtered...
* aciton necessary only if using "practice" mute
 E. 02:44 02:46 02:48 02:50 02:52 02:54 02:56 02:58 03:00

ST
AST 6

œæ œæ æ æ æ œæ
dietro pont.
SP
U
0 0 0 03 3 6 6
asp

? ∑ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œœ œ #O O O O. O O Œ
· ·
‰ ‰
œ œœ œ œœ œœœ œœœ œ œ œ
RH

Ï
(+lh)

Ï P3 p f
D.B.
¿ ƒ f P f
–– ≈ U‰
rev.

≠≠ ––
.
?g J ‰
s mult.
lis
LH Œ ∑
lean the heal of the LH against the mute / bridge

(F)
well-marked release!

E. 03:04 03:20

2-dimensional improvisation
only in the normal position (suspended on the III and IV strings)
(sometimes , sometimes, sometimes ) improv - foreground

( )
AST - - - ASP - - - AST - - - slow - mo right hand actions or

˙˙ ( œ ) , ? œ
@
(events occuring from time to time)

(œ œ@ )
RH

( œœ ) ( œœ ) (œ) œ œ ˙
p f
(+lh) one or two strings should be bowed at anytime additional open string (optional)

f@ @ @
only short phrasal breaks ( ) can be make

@ @ @
D.B.

?
i m p r o v - b a c k g r o u n d (continues!)
LH b¿ n¿ glissando glissando
gliss
.
gliss.
starting 1- or 2-strings glissandos added occassionally

F ƒ
positions
general dynamics

03:04 04:04

general pitch range direction

E. 03:40 04:00
open
e= 90 / q = 45

[ ]
extension

?
œœœ œ*
**
˙˙ bœ
spreading down the improvisation pitch-range

œ bœ œ ( ˙
˙ œœ œ* U )
? improv - foreground (continues!) 2
glissando glissando glissando glissando

4
®
/ /
œ œ O œ
RH

Ï ƒ P p
(+lh) slow - mo right hand actions (events occuring from time to time)

D.B.

LH

* in case of 5-string D.B. with low B or low C string

** in case of 4-string D.B. without extension – scordatura applies or no range changes are made 4
...the skies would be frozen, if they were not hi-cut filtered...
 I (sul G)

E. 04:04 following time divisions, freely inside the divisions

œ
œ , , ,
1st I (sul G)
two freely chosen points on the G string
2nd

D.B.
RH
set down the bow,
take the scraper (quite slowly) * p put down the scraper,
take the bow

P
(+lh)

*
wipe with a scraper at the indicated point,
short movement with form pressure
and tension will produce only a littlle sound;
as if cleaning the string
from the smog dust

E. 04:20

U
U
, O
J
U O œ
pp
D.B.
RH glissando

? œ J
pP
(+lh)
glissando
F
p f
p
**
F
if the sound technician is involved into electronics realisation –
– he may operate the master volume level and so join D.B. in his
theatrical actions (improvisations):

volume up (to some extent)

05:06
05:50 = breathe in (respiring with a polluted, grainy air)
04:58
04:50 volume down (to some extent)

,
= breathe out

) **
electronics start again
( 06:00
04:40
(D.B. sample)
E.

, ë
,
D.B.
O
( ) ** U
J ff F
put the D.B. set down the bow, ..............stand up still, look straight ahead, hardly breath................ put on breathe breathe (take off the mask)

P
down on the floor grab the mask (keep mask down, at a distance from the face) mask IN OUT

p one fast gesture

5
...the skies would be frozen, if they were not hi-cut filtered...