Shroud

for piccolo / alto flute

and electronics

Neal Farwell
2003 / 2007

commissioned by
Nancy Ruffer
 Shroud

Seven threads make the shroud,

The white thread,
A green corn thread,
A blue fish thread,
A red stitch, rut and rieving and wrath,
A gray thread
(All winter failing hand falleth on wheel)
The black thread,
And a thread too bright for the eye.

from Fishermen with Ploughs by George Mackay Brown,

reproduced by kind permission of John Murray (Publishers) Ltd.

I found this poem some years ago, and wanted to make a musical response; yet the poem is
too complete in itself for a song setting. When Nancy and I discussed making a piece, it
seemed finally to be the right occasion. The poem - both intimate and dispassionate, personal
and communal - weaves threads of loss, experience and, ultimately, hope.

The first performance of Shroud was given by Nancy Ruffer (flute) and Neal Farwell
(electronics) on 29 October 2003 at the Victoria Rooms, Bristol. The electronic part was re-
worked and the score revised in 2007.

Neal Farwell Shroud i

 Shroud Notation
for piccolo / alto flute and electronics Rhythm
Filled noteheads with stems q are played in the most recently stated metronome tempo.
Musical roles of the electronics Beams indicate the usual speed/duration relationships, but notes are not necessarily grouped
in whole beats.
The electronic sounds are of two main kinds: timbral alterations of the live flute sound that
are played over a central speaker, so that there is fusion between acoustic and electronic A dot after the notehead has its usual function. A + sign extends the note by a quarter of its
components, anchored to the physical flute; and antiphonal fields reproduced over the wider usual length, e.g.
loudspeakers, whose energy feeds or is driven by the flute.
e. = e) x e+ = e) y
Some of the flute transformations are effected by frequency shifting and modulation. The
base pitch is derived directly from what the flute is playing. Where this pitch and the flute Tuplets are always shown explicitly. Regular tuplets are shown with the number centred on
note are in unison or simple frequency ratio, the effect tends to be of a consonant brightening the group. A tuplet ratio placed at the beginning of a group (joined by a single beam or
of the flute tone, or a shifting of its formants. Where the base pitch and sounded flute pitch
are less simply related, the effect tends to be of a complex multiphonic.
bracket) indicates that the group is to played faster by the given ratio. Thus the x unit has
the same value in both of these:
5 5:4

Hardware and staging jjjjq jjkjjjiq

The electronic sound is produced over an arc of five loudspeakers. The central speaker is
positioned on a short stand just in front of and somewhat disguised by the players music
stand(s). The other four, on stands at around the flutists head height, form a shallow or near-
flat arc on the stage, symmetrical either side of the player and not more than 12 metres in
total width. All speakers should be of the same type and of high quality and wide dispersion
pattern. Small studio monitors such as those by Genelec and Mackie are ideal. The
loudspeaker array must not visually overwhelm the stage.
Two miniature microphones, one each for the piccolo and alto flutes, are attached close to
the embouchure hole. The microphones must be of good quality, but small enough not to
interfere with the embouchure, and light enough (including cable) not to impede handling.
These provide the feed to the electronics.
The electronics are implemented in software running on an Apple computer, running OS X
and equipped with a multichannel audio interface and preamplifiers for the two flute
microphones. The computer and computer performer are positioned off-stage, at the front of
the audience but inconspicuous. The flute and computer performers must be able to maintain
eye contact.
The software is written in Max/MSP and is part of the score of Shroud. See the Read Me
file on the CD-ROM for installation instructions. Follow the setup and testing instructions in
the software before rehearsal and performance.
In a large venue, good quality microphones on stands may be used for subtle amplification
and/or reverberation of the acoustic flute sound, mixed into the narrower left/right
loudspeakers. Amplification must never draw focus away from the acoustic player.
Open noteheads with stems and beams have duration proportional to space on the page.
Empty sections of staff behave as rests, to the same proportional timescale. The timescale is
expressed in the prevailing metronome unit, e.g.
2cm
q = 56 |< q >|
h
An interpretative tension is intended between the two time-flows.
Accidentals
Accidentals apply to the marked octave only, carry over in effect from filled to unfilled
noteheads and vice versa and to other types of notehead, and persist in effect until the next
barline (solid or dotted) or the end of the system, whichever comes first. Courtesy accidentals
are shown without parentheses.
Non-vibrato & ordinario
n.v. indicates a strict non-vibrato. The meaning of ord., ordinario, depends on context. It has
a local scope, and cancels the most recent change of tone production such as flutter-tongue,
breath tone, keyclicks, etc. In the broadly non-vibrato world of the first page, ord. implies
non-vibrato. At [D], following the explicit n.v. on the G#, ord. suggests vibrato. The
character of vibrato as the piece develops should always be flexible, never a default sound.

Performance parts Trills & tremolos

The flutist plays from a loose-leaf copy of the seven A3 score pages that follow these The speed of trills and tremolos should always be flexible and alive to phrasing. When
introductory notes. A study version is available annotated with numerical durations (see trills/tremolos follow each other within a slur (e.g. second system on page two), each must
below, Rhythm.) flow into the next without audible re-start.

Neal Farwell Shroud ii Neal Farwell Shroud iii

Dynamics
Dynamic markings indicate the heard intensity of sound that is desired. Most of the time, this
accommodates the natural variation with pitch register. When it seems to contradict, the same
effect should be sought through tone colour.
Air tones and glissandi
Air tones should have a resonant quality, with approximate pitch-centre as shown. Much air
may be needed to match dynamics with the regular tones. When a dashed-line glissando is
shown between a regular note and a sealed-embouchure air tone, the moment at which the
regular tone is lost or re-established should be disguised as much as possible, to give the
illusion of a single connected pitch-contour. These glissandi are not usually fingered. The
dynamics should similarly be regulated as much as possible, against the natural tendency of
the instrument.
Special notations
Diamond noteheads in the flute part indicate the fingered fundamental (silent) for a sounded
harmonic.
Diamond noteheads in the electronic part indicate a base pitch (itself usually silent) for an
electronic transformation such as frequency shifting (shown (+)FS or (-)FS) or frequency
modulation (FM). A transformation may be cancelled FS .
Above a note indicates that the embouchure hole is sealed with the lips, so that air
may be blown through the instrument.
The embouchure hole is completely closed by lips/tongue.
Key-click with the embouchure closed. Sounding pitch (round notehead) is a major
7th lower than the fingered pitch (cross notehead).
Tongue ram as for key clicks, but with the tongue abruptly closing the
embouchure to accent the resonance. The percussive pitched resonance is most
important; the breath ffffff that precedes it should be underplayed.
Blow air through the instrument without normal tone.
Electronic cues
Cues read by the electronic performer are shown as a letter and number in a bold circle,
above or below the flute staff. When a cue is aligned with a flute notehead, rhythmic unison
is essential. The angle of the alignment-line shows whether the cue should be placed just
before, on, or after the note sounds: a matter for rehearsal. A mnemonic description of the
effect is given below the staff. A longer description appears in the electronic software. Three
kinds of cues are used:
L1, L2, the electronics will Listen to the pitch that is sounding or is about to sound.
Usually the effect is delayed until the pitch is established. Some L cues also
have an immediate trigger effect;
Neal Farwell Shroud
T1, T2, a Trigger for an action or change, such as the start or stop of a sound-
transformation;
X1, X2, X3 transitions between the four sections of the piece.
The numbering of L and T cues restarts from 1 at the start of each section.
More detail on rhythm
Metric (filled-notehead) rhythms are written to approximately the correct spacing for the
proportional timescale. However, the relative spacings are adapted for clarity of reading.
Single-slash grace notes, groups, and choice-boxes are played as fast as possible. A double-
slash takes this speed to a further extreme. As fast as possible is always to be interpreted in
context. Grace notes and groups are spaced on the page for legibility, not to a visual
timescale.
Grace notes and groups occupy time, in real life, and this time should be allowed for here: it
is not stolen from other notes or rests. E.g. at [S] on the penultimate page, the low E@ lasts
11/4 units then is followed by a ripple through harmonics then the 5:4 tuplet figure. No time is
stolen from the initial E@ nor from the tuplet for the grace-group harmonics.
An exception is when grace notes appear within a clearly metric context, such as at [G]. Here,
follow normal practice: steal time from the note immediately before the grace note(s).
Proportional notation (open noteheads) follows common practice with some special cases:
A note duration starts with the left-hand edge of the notehead, not the centre or the
stem (unless stem-down). The left-hand edge of a choice-box is treated the same as
that of a regular notehead.
A note ends at the next left-hand edge (of proportional, metric or grace notehead) if
the beam extends that far, or at the end of the beam if in space.
An empty-space rest following a proportional beam lasts from the end of that beam to
the next left-hand edge.
An empty-space rest following a metric note, or a gracenote, begins after a space on
the page appropriate to that note (e.g. final page, second system: triplet, 1/3 rest, grace
note).
A metric note or rest followed by a proportional note has the expected metric duration
with no added time unless this is clearly intended (e.g. 4th system on page 2: empty-
space rests follow the first and last note-groups).
A short angled beam-stub on a proportional note makes it staccato. In this case, the
time to the next note is measured from notehead to notehead as if there were a
sustaining beam (not according to the length of the space following the beam stub).
If a note has an accidental, duration is still measured to the notehead not to the
accidental.
The goal should be to learn the rhythm accurately: but then to go beyond this to sing the line
and phrase, to breathe the momentum and flow.
Shroud Copyright 2003, 2007. Editorial corrections 2008. Neal Farwell.
iv Neal Farwell Shroud v