David
A. Jaffe
Program
Note
“Racing Against Time”
(2001) is based on recent personal experience with the peculiar time distortion
that results from being the father of two children under the age of three. The piece was commissioned by Dale Stammen,
Kimm Brockett Stammen and Judy Kehler Siebert of the Quarks! Trio. It is scored
for two violins, two saxophones, piano and live computer sound controlled by
the Boie/Mathews Radio Drum.
The piece uses the
seemingly-magical flexibility of the Radio Drum to extend and abstract the
sounds of the instruments, and transform them into sounds that we don't usually
think of as "musical," including a racing car, a jet plane and a
"weird string." These are rendered using computer “physical models,”
simulations of the actual physics of the objects, which allow the Radio Drum to
impart a finer degree of expressive nuance than would be possible with
conventional samples.
The physical model
simulations were created using software written by the composer at Staccato
Systems, Inc, a company he co-founded in 1996 to develop applications of
physical modeling technology. (Staccato Systems is now part of Analog Devices,
Inc.) The technology has been used not only for music, but also to impart a
sense of hyper-realism to computer game sound effects. “Racing Against Time” is
the first use of this technology in a contemporary music context.