Nightingale Vocal Ensemble - Composition Sped Up - improvised music highlighting the range and fluidity of the human voice
“Improvisation is just composition sped up." —Wayne Shorter
Full liner notes with photos: www.nightingalevocalensemble.com/composition-sped-up.html
Since its formation in 2019, Nightingale Vocal Ensemble has comprised singers who are also composers. Those singer-composers have written dozens of original works for the ensemble, and those works have received première performances in live concert events and sophisticated video productions. Composition is an essential facet of Nightingale’s identity, and it felt natural to attempt it—in Shorter’s words—Sped Up. Given the novelty of a cappella free improvisation, this project needed special musicians comfortable with total liberty and capable of making audacious musical choices. Fortunately, a group of my favorite virtuoso singers were eager to dive into this new world with me. While laying the groundwork for this album, the idea arose to improvise based on existing prompt material. I reached out to a variety of artists (painters, illustrators, poets, rock balancers, and more) about the possibility of us drawing musical inspiration from their work. I felt slightly apprehensive about making this inquiry, but I'm very glad I did it, because the response was profusely positive. Beautiful pieces were shared with us, and new friends are now a part of our Nightingale artistic community. On November 4th, 2022—following a series of rehearsals in which we established a rapport among our ensemble—we traveled to Big Nice Studio in Rhode Island, nestled among resplendent foliage beside the Blackstone River. We arranged ourselves in a semicircle under the studio’s 32-foot ceiling, and followed the same procedure for every recorded take. First, we collectively negotiated which of the prompts we were in the mood to interpret. After agreeing on one, each singer summoned the appropriate image or poem on a personal device. We briefly discussed whether to impose a musical rule or restriction for the impending improvisation. Finally we stood in silence, absorbing the prompt and awaiting inspiration. Each time, music soon materialized.... In most vocal ensembles, singers are typically assigned a particular part (e.g. soprano, alto, tenor, bass, etc.). We made no such attempt to classify ourselves. On this album, every person performs every possible musical role. Due to the flexibility of role and range that every singer embraced, I find it difficult to tell who is singing what at any given moment. This is truly equal music-making. The human voice—devoid of keys, frets, strings, or any discrete component—produces a pitch continuum, and it is unmoored to any tuning system. In the a cappella domain that we chose to inhabit, pitch is a liquid thing, and can itself be an expressive device. On this album, we flow freely throughout the tonal landscape, and juxtapose musical ideas in conventionally impossible ways. We didn’t set out to create microtonal music, but the fluidity of pitch uniquely enabled our musical and emotional expression. This album represents the best of our work that day. Every track was performed live, in a single take, with no overdubbing. Some of the takes have been trimmed down, but nothing has been rearranged or transformed. This is not musique concrète. This is live, acoustic performance. Every singer in the ensemble was utterly essential to the creation of this album, contributing an abundance of both musical expertise and—maybe more importantly—individual personality. Emma Newton's thoughtful and incredibly detailed mix brought out the best of each voice's contribution. Big Nice Studio was an inspring place to create. This album is just the first step into a musical frontier, and it represents one possible path ahead for new vocal ensemble music. We hope to share further exploration soon. —Nathan Halbur credits Vocals: Nicholas Ford, Nathan Halbur, Rose Hegele, Barbara Allen Hill, Lysander Jaffe, Benjamin Perry, Juan Suarez, Angela Yam