Coalescence

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• published: 24 Apr 2014
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"Coalescence" is a composition for four shortwave radios written by David Lee, an Atlanta-based artist. In spring/summer 1991, two live performances of "Coalescence" took place. The performers were David Lee, Angela Bowyer, Doug DeLoach, and Susan Eldridge. One performance was at a small basement space called Klang! The other at Cuong Nu Studio, a larger space used for dance rehearsals, yoga/martial arts classes, etc. Neither of the official performances of "Coalescence" were recorded. Happily, seven "Coalescence" rehearsal sessions were recorded on cassette tape. The rehearsals transpired over a period of several weeks in winter 1990/spring 1991. The score of "Coalescence" calls for four performers, each of whom is sitting at a shortwave radio in one corner of the room, listening with a pair of headphones. At first, the audience cannot hear the radios; the room is quiet. The performers are instructed to "play" a particular type of sound, which they find within the shortwave radio spectrum. All sounds are found in "real-time." In other words, the performers are at the mercy of the extant radio soundscape during the time of the performance. Consequently, the type of sounds are affected by reception and propagation conditions based on time of day and season. Once the appropriate sound is located on the dial, the performer disconnects the headphones and, following the score's instructions, brings up volume so the audience can hear the sound. The sounds are held for a specified duration, based on the score, sometimes as a solo contribution, sometimes in unison with one or more performers. Up until the final movement of "Coalescence," no voices -- no broadcast news programs, no speaking or singing segments -- are allowed. Only the abstract broadcast weirdness -- the phantasmagorical humming, whistling, thrumming and clicking sounds with which any shortwave listener is familiar -- is used to create the "music." For the final movement, the performers are instructed to find a voice broadcast and bring up the volume of all four radios at once, thus ending "Coalescence" in a congregation of humans talking. The recorded rehearsals took place in an open loft/studio apartment at the Mattress Factory warehouse in downtown Atlanta. Consequently, the breaks and pauses between passages contain a lot of unplanned ambient sounds: Car horns honking. Alarms going off. Buses driving by. Doors opening and closing. During one rehearsal, someone down the hall revved up a circular saw. These are welcome sounds, since, by design, "Coalescence" relies on improvisation, chance circumstance, and imaginative ears as primary, integral components of the listening experience. The photos: Four performers (l-r: Doug DeLoach, Angela Bowyer, David Lee, Susan Eldridge). Interior of Cuong Nu Studio prior to the second public performance of "Coalescence." We are seated at the four corners of the room. The audience sat and laid prone on the exercise mats scattered in the center of the quadrangle. Both photos should be credited to Bill Stevens. Performer Doug DeLoach: "Fundamentally, David Lee, the composer, was interested in exploring the concept of improvisation. He was particularly interested in devising a framework in which non-musicians (including himself) could create meaningful music. In this regard, he drew upon his affinity for the work and ideas of 20th century composers like John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, as well as innumerable jazz improvisers and performance art specialists. As a music writer/critic, I was profoundly affected by the insight gained into the practice and application of improvisational techniques. Learning how to "play" our instruments (radios) in accordance with David's score; working with chance elements, such as the minute-to-minute availability of certain sounds at certain times of the day; listening to the other players and trying to maintain a simpatico groove with what they were doing -- all of these things I knew about as components of music, which I had to analyze as a reviewer. Never would I have understood those components so well had I not participated in "Coalescence." Plus, it was seriously fun for someone who loves the incredible array of sound found on the shortwave bands."