Sudoku 82

Christopher Hobbs; Brian Pezzone

Sudoku 82

Christopher Hobbs, Brian Pezzone (Other)

Research output: Practice-Based and Non-textual Research › Composition

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Original language	English
Publisher	Fox's Cold Blue label
Publication status	Published - 2009

Bibliographical note

Author's note: Sudoku 82 is a twenty minute composition for eight pianos. The piece utilises a limited gamut of jazz piano loops which were taken from the library of Apple’s GarageBand software, slowed down to an almost stationary tempo (twenty beats per minute) and then arranged (in terms of placement of loops, number of repetitions of loops, silences between loops) according to random numbers derived from Sudoku grids. The resultant textures are generally spare, repetitive, soft and hypnotic, relating especially to the work of such American West Coast composers as Harold Budd and Jim Fox. This version, not commercially available, is included in the portfolio (no. 1 above). It was at Fox’s suggestion that I transcribed the slowed-down loops so they could be played by a live pianist. This version, played by Brian Pezzone, was released on CD in 2009 by Fox’s Cold Blue label in California. The piece is part of an ongoing series of electronic compositions mostly using GarageBand software and all employing similar random techniques (where the sound sources and overall duration of the piece are predetermined but other details – repetition, pitch and time-shift, sometimes amplitude – are decided by the employment of random numbers) under the general title of Sudoku. Since 2005 there have been 136 of these pieces, varying in duration from four to eighty minutes. The Cold Blue disc was reviewed extremely favourably in over ten international print and web-based journals including Textura, March 2010, http://www.textura.org/reviews/hobbs_roberts.htm, (“the haunting, rather impressionistic work exudes elegance in a restrained presentation "); Sequenza 21,17-12-09 http://www.sequenza21.com.cdreviews/, (“ a beautiful glassy spiral of slowly drifting gestures”); The Gramophone, v.87 No.1053, Jan 2010, North American edition, pp.A7-8, (“[t]hrough its quiet intensity – not unlike the music of Morton Feldman – the piece changes one’s entire perception of time”); and MusicWeb International, Jan 2010 http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Jan10/hobbs_CB0033.htm. (“It’s hypnotic, beautiful, non-aggressive, and it just seems to hang in the air, the music filling all the space around you”)
The copyight holder Dr Christopher Hobbs requests that the score is for educational/research use only. Use of the score or part thereof in research must be accompanied by a copyight notice and attribution. It must not be changed, altered, transformed or built upon in any way from the original. The score must not be shown for public or commercial purposes or otherwise reproduced or distributed without prior written permission from the copyright holder Christopher Hobbs: aa9115@coventry.ac.uk. The score is under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Creative Commons license.
Format: Score and music on CD
Extent: 20 mins.
Pieces: 1
Rights holder: Christopher Hobbs (score)

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Sudoku 82

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title = "Sudoku 82",

author = "Christopher Hobbs and Brian Pezzone",

note = "Author's note: Sudoku 82 is a twenty minute composition for eight pianos. The piece utilises a limited gamut of jazz piano loops which were taken from the library of Apple{\textquoteright}s GarageBand software, slowed down to an almost stationary tempo (twenty beats per minute) and then arranged (in terms of placement of loops, number of repetitions of loops, silences between loops) according to random numbers derived from Sudoku grids. The resultant textures are generally spare, repetitive, soft and hypnotic, relating especially to the work of such American West Coast composers as Harold Budd and Jim Fox. This version, not commercially available, is included in the portfolio (no. 1 above). It was at Fox{\textquoteright}s suggestion that I transcribed the slowed-down loops so they could be played by a live pianist. This version, played by Brian Pezzone, was released on CD in 2009 by Fox{\textquoteright}s Cold Blue label in California. The piece is part of an ongoing series of electronic compositions mostly using GarageBand software and all employing similar random techniques (where the sound sources and overall duration of the piece are predetermined but other details – repetition, pitch and time-shift, sometimes amplitude – are decided by the employment of random numbers) under the general title of Sudoku. Since 2005 there have been 136 of these pieces, varying in duration from four to eighty minutes. The Cold Blue disc was reviewed extremely favourably in over ten international print and web-based journals including Textura, March 2010, http://www.textura.org/reviews/hobbs_roberts.htm, (“the haunting, rather impressionistic work exudes elegance in a restrained presentation {"}); Sequenza 21,17-12-09 http://www.sequenza21.com.cdreviews/, (“ a beautiful glassy spiral of slowly drifting gestures”); The Gramophone, v.87 No.1053, Jan 2010, North American edition, pp.A7-8, (“[t]hrough its quiet intensity – not unlike the music of Morton Feldman – the piece changes one{\textquoteright}s entire perception of time”); and MusicWeb International, Jan 2010 http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Jan10/hobbs_CB0033.htm. (“It{\textquoteright}s hypnotic, beautiful, non-aggressive, and it just seems to hang in the air, the music filling all the space around you”) The copyight holder Dr Christopher Hobbs requests that the score is for educational/research use only. Use of the score or part thereof in research must be accompanied by a copyight notice and attribution. It must not be changed, altered, transformed or built upon in any way from the original. The score must not be shown for public or commercial purposes or otherwise reproduced or distributed without prior written permission from the copyright holder Christopher Hobbs: aa9115@coventry.ac.uk. The score is under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Creative Commons license. Format: Score and music on CD Extent: 20 mins. Pieces: 1 Rights holder: Christopher Hobbs (score)",

year = "2009",

language = "English",

publisher = "Fox's Cold Blue label",

address = "United States",

}

TY - ADVS

T1 - Sudoku 82

AU - Hobbs, Christopher

A2 - Pezzone, Brian

N1 - Author's note: Sudoku 82 is a twenty minute composition for eight pianos. The piece utilises a limited gamut of jazz piano loops which were taken from the library of Apple’s GarageBand software, slowed down to an almost stationary tempo (twenty beats per minute) and then arranged (in terms of placement of loops, number of repetitions of loops, silences between loops) according to random numbers derived from Sudoku grids. The resultant textures are generally spare, repetitive, soft and hypnotic, relating especially to the work of such American West Coast composers as Harold Budd and Jim Fox. This version, not commercially available, is included in the portfolio (no. 1 above). It was at Fox’s suggestion that I transcribed the slowed-down loops so they could be played by a live pianist. This version, played by Brian Pezzone, was released on CD in 2009 by Fox’s Cold Blue label in California. The piece is part of an ongoing series of electronic compositions mostly using GarageBand software and all employing similar random techniques (where the sound sources and overall duration of the piece are predetermined but other details – repetition, pitch and time-shift, sometimes amplitude – are decided by the employment of random numbers) under the general title of Sudoku. Since 2005 there have been 136 of these pieces, varying in duration from four to eighty minutes. The Cold Blue disc was reviewed extremely favourably in over ten international print and web-based journals including Textura, March 2010, http://www.textura.org/reviews/hobbs_roberts.htm, (“the haunting, rather impressionistic work exudes elegance in a restrained presentation "); Sequenza 21,17-12-09 http://www.sequenza21.com.cdreviews/, (“ a beautiful glassy spiral of slowly drifting gestures”); The Gramophone, v.87 No.1053, Jan 2010, North American edition, pp.A7-8, (“[t]hrough its quiet intensity – not unlike the music of Morton Feldman – the piece changes one’s entire perception of time”); and MusicWeb International, Jan 2010 http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Jan10/hobbs_CB0033.htm. (“It’s hypnotic, beautiful, non-aggressive, and it just seems to hang in the air, the music filling all the space around you”) The copyight holder Dr Christopher Hobbs requests that the score is for educational/research use only. Use of the score or part thereof in research must be accompanied by a copyight notice and attribution. It must not be changed, altered, transformed or built upon in any way from the original. The score must not be shown for public or commercial purposes or otherwise reproduced or distributed without prior written permission from the copyright holder Christopher Hobbs: aa9115@coventry.ac.uk. The score is under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Creative Commons license. Format: Score and music on CD Extent: 20 mins. Pieces: 1 Rights holder: Christopher Hobbs (score)

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

M3 - Composition

PB - Fox's Cold Blue label

ER -