Jordan Dykstra — Pitch Gradient with Noise #3 (in A#) (2016) & Four Found Clouds (2016) (excerpt)
"Four Found Clouds" performed by Marilu Donovan on amplified pedal harp with EBow.
"Pitch Gradient with Noise in A#" performed by Bridgid Bergin and Jordan Dykstra (viola), Alex Waterman (cello), Dave Scanlon (EBow guitar), Warren Enström (bassoon), Tomek Arnold and Hallie Blejewski (pitched percussion), Matt Wellins (sine-tones), with Omar Fraire and Brian McOmber (noise percussion).
Program notes from the performance on October 4, 2016 at the World Music Hall on the campus of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut: Pitch Gradient with Noise in A# & Four Found Clouds is a pairing of two separate works from 2016: the second in a series called Pitch Gradients and the third in a series called Found Clouds. A Found Cloud is a veiled and textured non-one-octave-repeating scalar pattern that emerges when the fundamental is sustained and the other tones in the scale are voiced with a much shorter duration. For this version the pedal harp has been justly tuned with the fundamental at A# and the other six pedals within the 35th limit. On the other hand, I think of Pitch Gradients as a glacially-paced micro-color shift between 2 semitones resulting in wonderful beating patterns and dense textures. When placed upon one another I hope these two pieces stretch pitch and time perception in 2 ways: vertically (Found Clouds) and horizontally (Pitch Gradient).