Study no. 9.2 [KZU] is a fun piece composed for a National Kazoo Day performance. Like Studies 9 & 9.1, the animated notation features a series of attack cursors traversing vertical lines. After each player reaches their highest possible pitch, the animated notation changes, becoming more rhythmic as the ensemble members slowly descend to their lowest pitch.
Performance Instructions
For 7 Kazoos.
Each player is assigned to one notational aggregate (vertical line), and should follow their assigned aggregate throughout.
Each time the attack cursor (black circle moving up and down) reaches the bottom black circle, or the orange circle above it, play a short note. When it reaches the bottom circle, play your lowest note. When it reaches the orange circle, the pitch of that note should be determined based on how high the orange circle is. For example, if the circle is halfway up, the pitch should be halfway between the lowest and highest pitch of each player's respective range.
After some time, two small circles will appear at 12 and 6 o'clock on each attack cursor, and a small circle will begin rotating around. Each time that rotating circle crosses the small circles (nodes) at 12 and 6, play a short tone. As before, the pitch of this tone should be related to the height of the orange circle, but in this case, the 12 o'clock pitch should be slightly higher than the 6 o'clock pitch.
If possible, the Animated Score should be projected for both the performers and audience to see. If this is not possible, one or more monitors can be used.
Ryan Ross Smith, 2015
If you would like a copy of this animated score for performance, or have any questions about the animated notation used in this piece, feel free to get in touch! My contact information can be found here.
