BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Stars. Sun. Void.
Ephemera Trio is taking us on a voyage into the universe, morphing the elements of space into new music.
Curious and inspiring, Orbits and Riffs is the group’s new album that uses NASA recordings of stars and planets’ electromagnetic waves, and combines these otherworldly sounds with jazz, classical and experimental music.
Keyna Wilkins, the group’s pianist, flautist and composer, worked with astrophysicist Professor Paul Francis to create this cosmic aural backdrop, which will be offset by a projection of space probe footage in the upcoming album launch. Keyna talks us through the worlds she’s creating with Elsen Price (double bass) and Will Gilbert (trumpet) in Ephemera.
Talk us through your new album with Ephemera. How did the concept come about?
I have always had a fascination with astronomy, ever since I saved up to buy a telescope at 13. My skills lie in music though, not quantum physics. I have spent many years involved in other people’s music projects, and it was not until I had twins in 2014 – and had obviously much less time – that I realised that with the little time I had I wanted to spend it exploring my own music; primarily because I want to hear it and experience it and ultimately share this with anyone who wants to listen.
I also wanted to find a way to make my music ‘about something’, and marry my interest in astronomy with my musicianship. I find it very meditative to remember we are a very tiny niche in an infinite universe. Astronomy provides a rich vein of ideas, images and space sounds to fire up the imagination, and so fertile grounds for composition.
Space has been explored musically in many different works. It’s often represented through vast symphonic landscapes, from music for film – as in 2001: A Space Odyssey to Star Wars – to pieces like The Planets by Holst. How did your ensemble choose to represent space through music?
My compositions explore astronomical phenomena in a number of ways:
- Using shapes of celestial landscapes to inform pitch content such as in Craters of Rhea for solo double bass and loop pedal, in which I mimicked the jagged angles of NASA photos of moon of Saturn Rhea’s craters to inform the melodic and intervallic structure
- Using repetitive bass lines to mirror a pulsar’s hypnotic rotations such as in Distant Pulsar for trumpet, piano and double bass
- Using the concepts of voids, stillness and space to inspire a zen-like improvisational state that is conjured up such as in Aurorae Sinus for trumpet, flute and double bass, capturing the vast stillness of the largest crater on Mars knows as the Eye of Mars
- Use of electromagnetic waves of various astronomical phenomena as a sonic foundation including pitch material present, made audible by use of spectrograph courtesy of astronomer Dr Paul Francis such as in Floating in Space for flute and nebulae
- Reflecting current theories on what happens in a black hole through use of radio wave samples from around the world and beyond and various space sounds in an accompanying soundtrack: Blackhole for trumpet, flute, double bass, piano and soundtrack
You’ve explored many elements of space – stars, craters, planets. How do you give a different character to each of these enormous areas of space?
Some pieces are very fast, lively and tonal representing future human space travel (e.g. Mars Part 3: Red Children and Orbital Waltz for trumpet, double bass and piano), and some are slow and contemplative using tonal centres created by the space sounds (e.g. New Galaxy for trumpet, flute, double bass and soundtrack). The pieces in the album range from solo to trios, some fully notated and some large sections of improvisation, embodying various astronomical phenomena such as craters, full moons, skies, planets and the imagined experience of being trapped in a black hole. My compositional process is largely intuitive and involves immersing myself in recorded and theoretical source material and experiencing the massive volume of NASA photographs, videos and audio recordings. I imagine I am there, or travelling around the subjects, abstracting the patterns and sensations into an outline of the melodic shape on the page.
How did you work with astrophysicist Paul Francis in creating the work?
I had the idea of trying to incorporate astronomy into my music initially, then did a web search and eventually came across the website of astronomer Professor Paul Francis. He had constructed a library of space sound MP3s drawn from NASA’s electromagnetic data that he was keen to share and be involved in creative projects. I contacted with him and he was more than happy to have his material incorporated into my project.
Why is this album important today? What will it help us to learn or discover about space – or the way we think about space?
Astronomical phenomena have long been an inspiration for composers around the world. However, it is only recently that authentic space sounds deriving from astronomical phenomena have been available for use in acoustic composition, due to increasing advances in space technology and the accessibility of the information collected.
A small number of contemporary composers have begun using these sounds in acoustic music, reflecting on the beauty of the sounds and recognizing connections with the harmonic series. Astrophysics incorporates many concepts that can be used in effective ways in music composition. This album’s collection of pieces and improvisations focus on space, outside of society and culture; seeking to shift the locus of experience to positions nearer the observed astral objects (e.g. sounds and imagery from exploratory probes and drones). This collection’s contribution to Australian contemporary music emphasizes place and landscape, linking the tradition to the emerging influence of space exploration. Enjoy!
The Ephemera Trio launches Orbits and Riffs at Foundry 616, 8.30pm on 26 May. Tickets online.
Image of Ephemera: Phyllis Photography. Featured image: John Smith via Flickr CC2.0.
Fascinating and Inspirational