Javier Alejandro Garavaglia

POPPEKSTIVE (1999) Original Version for 8-TRACK-TAPE

Genre: Acousmatic Music

Duration: 11:00 Min.

This piece is a tribute to all the fantastic jazz, pop and rock-and-roll musicians that have accompanied my life through their recordings on LPs (Long-plays a word that may seem unknown for the very young generation) in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. It is also about a „retrospective“ of the „pop“ music during those years, in which all sounds were „analogue“ and „electric“ (not electronic). The computer (the actual instrument of the piece) did not exist in the form we know it now.

A good part of this music was my favourite during my childhood (and it is still now). There is a „Leitmotiv“, that comes from the sound of Miles Davis’ „Blue in green“ (one of my favourite pieces of music ever), which joins all other parts giving a kind of magic presence throughout the entire work.

Although it may seem so, it is not a simple „collage“ of samples, because most of them have been modified through modern computer synthesis techniques, just as Convolution, Phase Vocoding (involving time and/or pitch), Cross-synthesis, envelope following and other, which are more common to pop music, namely Loops and echoes. There are also „pure“ Samples, which are accessible to recognition at first sight.

There are 67 different Samples from over 40 musicians of the 30 years mentioned above. Try to catch up them all!!!!.

Technical specifications:

The Final 8-track Master was mixed using ProTools.

The channel distribution for concert purposes follows the “American” octophonic surround way, as follows:

The performer on the Mixing desk should not try to diffuse the piece, as all octophonic movements are already pre-composed and saved on the tape. A general indication would be to consider all 8 Output Busses at 0dB level basis (Unity), but as the overall dynamics can vary substantially from one system and concert hall to another, the final decision of a common overall level for all 8 channels remains on the performer.

The octophonic version is the only version which brings the whole compositional ideas together, as the space is indeed a primordial parameter and therefore should be given priority. However, if an octophonic system is not in place, a quadraphonic reduction as follows:

Channel 1 & 5 together,

Channel 2 & 6 together,

Channel 3 & 7 together,

Channel 4 & 8 together.

should replace it.

Indications for the performance:

This acousmatic piece, composed in 1999, is available on the following different formats (all octophonic) by the composer:

- ADAT – 48 kHz Sampling Rate

- DTRS – 44.1 kHz Sampling Rate

- 8 separate AIFF files, which can be uploaded to any current computer Audio Sequencer (Pro Tools, Nuendo, etc) for performance on a PC or Apple based computer.