| Press Quotes and Reviews |
Conceptual Music
music that involves
process as its focus
| NEW
CD AVAILABLE Steve Kornicki's new conceptual music CD, Transformations and Manipulations, is now available from CDbaby.com (includes music previews and downloadable MP3s). The six pieces in this collection are process oriented soundscape explorations for sampled and digitally altered orchestral and instrumental sounds drawing inspiration from minimalist and ambient textures. These compositions draw their influences from the process-oriented music of Brian Eno, William Basinski, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Tod Dockstader, Phill Niblock and David Behrman. Tracks from this collection are also soundtracks to audio-visual pieces by Steve and Melissa Kornicki. |
MUSIC FOR ELECTRONICALLY PROCESSED INSTRUMENTS, VOICES AND SOUNDS
This group of music utilizes the recording of live instruments, voices or sounds as their source material with those sounds being manipulated, transformed and processed through electronic means. The pieces that use mathematical statements as their title are for the previously mentioned recorded media that have been randomly layered to produce dense, textural webs of sound. An example of the processes for these pieces can be found in an excerpt from the program notes for 25 X 8:
25 X 8" consists of 25 pre-recorded, stereo samples of single tones and intervals from flute, piccolo, trumpet and horn. Initially, the sample’s attacks were removed so as to produce a smooth, wave-like sound from the instruments and were then electronically looped. The samples were archived onto a single compact disc with the final version of the music consisting of 8 copies of the CD played on 8 CD players set on shuffle mode and started in sequenced succession of one another. Thus, the 25 fragments are each heard 8 times throughout the piece, in random order, producing various textures and combinations. In this setting, the machines (CD players) determine the order and outcome of the layered sounds. There can also be a studio version assembled by an audio engineer in which the single CD is layered in the same manner in a multi-track recorder/mixer. The studio version is heard on this recording.
| AUDIO - Click title to listen to MP3 excerpts | |
| 23
x 6 Twenty-three processed classical guitar samples randomly layered six times (2005) |
22
x 5 Twenty-two processed samples of electric guitar randomly layered five times (2005) Available on the Orchestral, Conceptual, and Ensemble Music CD. |
| 25
x 8 Twenty-five processed samples of piccolo, flute, horn and trumpet randomly layered eight times (2005) Available on the Orchestral, Conceptual, and Ensemble Music CD. |
29
x 7 Twenty-nine processed classical guitar samples randomly layered seven times (2005) Available on the Orchestral, Conceptual, and Ensemble Music CD. |
| 37
x 7 Thirty-seven processed samples of thumb piano and small xylophone randomly layered seven times (2005) |
47
x 6 Fourty-seven processed samples of male and female speech randomly layered six times (2005) |
| 61
x 5 Sixty-one processed samples of orhestral instruments randomly layered five times (2005) This piece also exists as the soundtrack to the DVD, TRANSFIGURATIONS, a conceptual video by Steve and Melissa Kornicki that has been featured as an installation at various galleries. |
25
x 5 Twenty-five processed samples of cedar flute (Native American flute) randomly layered five times (2005) |
| TONAL SHIFT
Processed samples of orchestral instruments (2005) Available on the Orchestral, Conceptual, and Ensemble Music CD. |
ALTERED ORCHESTRA #2
Processed samples of orchestral instruments (2005) Available on the Orchestral, Conceptual, and Ensemble Music CD. |
MUSIC
FOR ELECTRONICALLY PROCESSED INSTRUMENTS, VOICES AND SOUNDS
These two pieces are the beginning of Steve's work
in altering existing recorded sound.
| AUDIO - Click title to listen to MP3 excerpts | |
| TRANSFORMATIONS For processed and layered samples of instruments and voices from various classical recordings (1999) |
WINE
GLASS TRANSFORMATIONS for processed and layered samples of rubbed and struck crystal, wine glasses (1999) |
MUSIC FOR ELECTRONICS
Steve's early pieces for pre-recorded electronic sounds
| AUDIO - Click title to listen to MP3 excerpts | |
| COMPOSITION
FOR SYNTHESIZER 1995 A fast tempo study in layered electronic sounds for Korg synthesizer and sequencer. |
COMPOSITION
FOR SYNTHESIZER 1991 (full-length) For pre-recorded synthesizer. Recorded on 4-track cassette tape using an early Roland synthesizer. |
| TONAL
CORRELATIONS #2 An electronic piece that progresses gradually from active and dense material to sustained textures (1991) |
COLLAGE FOR TAPE
RECORDER Steve's first tape music piece created when he was in his early teens using two casette decks, homemade synthesizer, oscillator, and phonograph records (c. 1983) |