Vic Firth | Christopher Whyte: A Cold Stability @VicFirthCompany | Uploaded November 2023 | Updated October 2024, 18 hours ago.
“A Cold Stability” draws its origins from the process of wine making, moving through four stages: the grapes and skins (drums), just at their peak ripeness before harvest, ready to burst, bubbling, popping, alive; the precision machines (metals) which sort and crush the fruit with angular precision, direction, brightness; the oak barrels (woods) in which the wine rests and evolves, imparting warmth, character, maturity, and finally the glass bottles and wine glasses where it finds harmony, clarity, stability, and concludes its journey. The electronics component of the piece is created using Ableton Live, which enables the processing of live sound manipulation and effects. All of the sonic elements of the piece are created in real time, without pre-recorded elements.
The title refers to cold stabilization, the final stage of bottling in which some wines are chilled to temperatures as close to freezing as possible in order to prevent the formation of tartaric acid crystals. Upon reflection of this process, I am struck by the way most phenomena around us must be stripped of their energy and heat in order to achieve stability, whether natural, social, or intellectual. The yearly cyclical process for wine makers of transforming a volatile natural substance into a carefully crafted, intricate, and artistic product is not unlike composing or learning a new piece. The process of distilling musical ideas into a new form follows a similar pattern, harnessing raw material, allowing it to mature and evolve, and ultimately, seeking harmony.
“A Cold Stability” (2021)
by Christopher Whyte (b. 1983)
Filmed at Chehalem Cultural Center and Elk Cove Winery, October 2021 and May 2022
Co-produced by Third Angle New Music
Videography and Editing by Eric Hadley and Focus Foundry
Engineering by Branic Howard at Open Field Recording
Produced with support from the Portland State University Faculty Association, Christopher Shiner, and Ronni Lacroute
“A Cold Stability” was commissioned by Third Angle New Music
Check out the album page here: newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/cold-stability
“A Cold Stability” draws its origins from the process of wine making, moving through four stages: the grapes and skins (drums), just at their peak ripeness before harvest, ready to burst, bubbling, popping, alive; the precision machines (metals) which sort and crush the fruit with angular precision, direction, brightness; the oak barrels (woods) in which the wine rests and evolves, imparting warmth, character, maturity, and finally the glass bottles and wine glasses where it finds harmony, clarity, stability, and concludes its journey. The electronics component of the piece is created using Ableton Live, which enables the processing of live sound manipulation and effects. All of the sonic elements of the piece are created in real time, without pre-recorded elements.
The title refers to cold stabilization, the final stage of bottling in which some wines are chilled to temperatures as close to freezing as possible in order to prevent the formation of tartaric acid crystals. Upon reflection of this process, I am struck by the way most phenomena around us must be stripped of their energy and heat in order to achieve stability, whether natural, social, or intellectual. The yearly cyclical process for wine makers of transforming a volatile natural substance into a carefully crafted, intricate, and artistic product is not unlike composing or learning a new piece. The process of distilling musical ideas into a new form follows a similar pattern, harnessing raw material, allowing it to mature and evolve, and ultimately, seeking harmony.
“A Cold Stability” (2021)
by Christopher Whyte (b. 1983)
Filmed at Chehalem Cultural Center and Elk Cove Winery, October 2021 and May 2022
Co-produced by Third Angle New Music
Videography and Editing by Eric Hadley and Focus Foundry
Engineering by Branic Howard at Open Field Recording
Produced with support from the Portland State University Faculty Association, Christopher Shiner, and Ronni Lacroute
“A Cold Stability” was commissioned by Third Angle New Music
Check out the album page here: newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/cold-stability
