más campana de la vaca (2015)
This piece for a 6-cowbell instrument and fixed media is an exploration of cultural references. The work seeks to build tropes from the many mundane musical uses of the cowbell in the hopes of discovering and sharing a new perspective of this oft-maligned member of the percussion family. The somewhat tongue-in-cheek program notes follow.
más campana de la vaca, translated as "more bell of the cow," is the product of things you think about when you are at your girlfriend’s nephew’s high school graduation. Cowbells have become pervasive in our everyday lives. No longer content to be used by herdsmen as a signaling device, cowbells have insidiously inserted themselves into our popular music, sporting events, and, yes, even into our children's high school graduation ceremonies. The title of this piece is derived from one of the more public events related to the cowbell's crawl from cultural obscurity: the so-called "skit" performed during Christopher Walken's appearance on SNL in April of 2000. At that time, Walken complained of a fever, but who knows what other adverse health effects have arisen since then due to our culture's obsession with the crafty cowbell. This work is an attempt to understand better what the cowbell's agenda is, and what impact its plans may have on our health and sanity.
listen to an mp3 (stereo reduction of 7 channel work, cowbells are sampled)
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