The Question Mark’s Black Ink
1986
Program Note
The Question Mark’s Black Ink is a work for live performers playing piano and percussion as well as an electronic tape in which the sounds are completely derived from the instruments being played. The live musicians are synchronized to this tape by “click tracks” and other cues each hears over headphones. However, these clicks are not necessarily the same for both players, and they may play in different meters and tempos. Influences on this piece include change ringing, fourteenth-century vocal music, and the poem “Subconscious” by S.L. Hough, from which the title comes.
-Bill Alves
About Bill Alves
Bill Alves is a composer, writer, and video artist based in Southern California and engaged at the intersections of musical cultures and technology. He has written extensively for conventional acoustic…