Cycles of Formation
John Ritz composer
CYCLES OF FORMATION from John Ritz presents varying degrees of prescribed musical material and open-form elements. Each piece explores the potential interactions between human performance and interactive computer signal processing algorithms within a particular musical context. Featuring jazz pianist Gabe Evens, and classical percussionist Greg Byrne, and Ritz himself as the album’s composer, cellist, and analog synthesist, this Ravello Records release delivers a stimulating world of electroacoustic sound, a smooth blend of suspense and innovation.
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Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Chance Designs | John Ritz | John Ritz, cello, electronics; Gabe Evens, piano; Greg Byrne, percussion | 6:45 |
| 02 | Cycles of Formation | John Ritz | Greg Byrne, percussion; John Ritz, analog synthesizer, electronics | 8:15 |
| 03 | Drift | John Ritz | John Ritz, cello, electronics; Gabe Evens, piano; Greg Byrne, percussion | 7:54 |
| 04 | Mote of Dust | John Ritz | Gabe Evens, piano; Greg Byrne, percussion; John Ritz, analog synthesizer, electronics | 8:18 |
| 05 | Percussion and Electronics | John Ritz | Greg Byrne, percussion; John Ritz, electronics | 7:46 |
| 06 | Rust | John Ritz | John Ritz, cello, electronics; Gabe Evens, piano; Greg Byrne, percussion | 8:46 |
Cover Artwork by Sarah Ritz
Recorded December 2018, October & December 2021, and November-December 2022 in the New Media Lab at the University of Louisville School of Music in Louisville KY
Recording Session Producer, Engineer, Editing, and Mixing John Ritz
Mastering Melanie Montgomery
Executive Producer Bob Lord
A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Aidan Curran
Artist Information
John Ritz
John Ritz is a composer, improviser, experimental music performer, sound artist, and educator. He is a proponent of interdisciplinary arts and collaborates regularly with visual and performing artists. His recent concert music focuses on chamber music for instruments and interactive computer systems. He is an Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Creative Studies at the University of Louisville.
Greg Byrne
Dr. Greg Byrne is Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Louisville. Byrne is the recipient of the 2012 Kentucky Music Educators Association’s “Teacher of the Year” award. He is consistently honored as a Faculty Favorite and was featured as a University of Louisville Top Ten Faculty Favorites in 2004. Dr. Byrne is an Educational Artist for REMO Inc. and VIC FIRTH, Inc. He has performed in Japan on several occasions, where he was a member of the Hidano/Byrne Duo, endorsed by VIC FIRTH Inc. to present children’s concerts. The most notable was at the elementary school in Miyako which was devastated by the 2011 Tsunami. He serves as an advocate for musicians with disabilities through his educational DVD, Opportunity to Succeed. Through this role, he has presented at the International Conference for the Arts and Humanities in Hawaii, the College Band Directors National Association Southern Conference in Mississippi, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago and he presented the Keynote Address at the Nebraska Music Educators Association Conference. He is portrayed by actor Judge Reinhold in the movie I Am Potential, based on the book by Patrick Henry Hughes.
Gabe Evens
Gabe Evens is the Associate Professor of Jazz Piano, Composition, and Arranging at the University of Louisville, Jazz Studies Program. He has performed throughout the United States and in Malaysia, Singapore, and Spain, and has played with the Louisville Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Miami City Ballet Orchestra, and the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band. Evens has seven albums of original music and has had numerous compositions performed by chamber and large ensembles including the Louisville Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica de Loja, the Cape Symphony Orchestra, and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Evens is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, holds an M.A. in Jazz Piano Performance from the University of Miami, and a D.M.A. in Performance with a major in Jazz Studies (composition emphasis) from the University of North Texas.
Notes
Chance: a possibility of something happening.
Design: purpose, planning, or intention that exists or is thought to exist behind an action, fact, or material object.
Chance Designs was formed in 2017 by composer John Ritz to explore his interests in chaos theory and dynamic systems within the context of sound and music making. The group consists of Ritz (composer, cello, analog synthesizer, computer electronics), jazz pianist Gabe Evens, and classical percussionist Greg Byrne. Through the exploration of unconventional sound generation and performance techniques, open-form compositional strategies, improvisation, and interactive computer electronics that exhibit chaotic behaviors, the group seeks to find new musical forms and models of music making that would be otherwise difficult to imagine.
Each of the pieces on CYCLES OF FORMATION present the ensemble with varying degrees of prescribed musical material (notated music) and open-form elements (instructions for how and when to synchronize, how to respond musically to what is heard in the moment during the performance, the type of sound material to perform depending on the texture and density of electronic sounds, improvisational cues, temporal cues, etc.). Each piece explores the potential interactions between human performance and interactive computer signal processing algorithms within a particular musical context.
A networked system of musicians, instruments, microphones, loudspeakers, and digital signal processing algorithms is established — there is a possibility of something happening (chance). From the very first sound produced, the temporal evolution of the sonic system is driven by a process of interaction between the musicians and the computer. The musical forms (designs) that emerge are the results of the interaction between the individual parts of this sonic system.
The Chance Designs project has been presented in various forms at many national and international conferences and festivals of new music, including the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) National Conference, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), and the Missouri Experimental and Sonic Arts Festival (MOXsonic), among others.