Premiere: Laila Engle

9’00"

Star Picc for amplified piccolo, vocoder, tape, and a big drum features live processing of the piccolo using pitch shifters. The electronics has 6 independent lines, 3 for each channel. Although the electronics and fixed media are mixed to stereo, the speakers are separated with the left channel next to the performer, and the right channel behind the audience, becoming more present in the latter half of the work.

The piece explores contemporary performance practice, contrasted against kitsch robotic sounds in the fixed media and the electronically altered sound of the piccolo, evoking a low-fi sci-fi world that samples elements from video games, including Armored Core 2.

This work was composed as the recipient of the inaugural Homophonic! Pride Prize, with financial backing from Andrew Boyle, and creative/technical support from Miranda Hill, Joy Lee, and Alice Bennett.

Score

Program

Purchase Physical Score ($40.91 AUD)

Review

Star Picc was an outrageously entertaining work performed by powerhouse Laila Engle, which featured a mix of live instrumental music, electronic sounds, breath work and other effects. Engle’s masterful performance created an experience reminiscent of an alien spaceship tearing through time and space, reflecting dramatic samples of the cosmic soundscape as it whizzed past

Jaya Berged

Performances:

30/01/2020: Laila Engle, Homophonic! – Midsumma Festival, La Mama Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria [Premiere]
31/01/2020: Laila Engle, Homophonic! – Midsumma Festival, La Mama Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria
1/02/2020: Laila Engle, Homophonic! – Midsumma Festival, La Mama Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria
06/02/2020: Laila Engle, Homophonic! – Geelong Rainbow Festival, Potato Shed, Drysdale, Victoria
06/03/2020: Laila Engle, Chillout Festival, Daylesford Town Hall, Daylesford, Victoria
27/03/2020: Laila Engle, Bendigo Pride Festival, Bendigo, Victoria