FUKUSHIMA MELTDOWN REACTOR: BURN EVERYTHING

Josh C. Simmons

A Thesis Proposal

Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green

State University in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Composition

December 2014

Committee:
Elainie Lillios, Advisor
Per Broman

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In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music Degree in Composition I will create a sixmovement, fifteen-minute multimedia work entitled, Fukushima Meltdown Reactor: Burn
Everything. The work will be composed for performance by my multimedia trio, Netmoir,
whose performing forces include saxophone, two live electronics performers, and live visuals.
The pieces music, visuals, and performance art elements will be inspired by the March 2011
Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster.
Fukushima Meltdown Reactor aims to take the audience on a dramatic journey through
the process of a nuclear reactor meltdown from an omniscient viewpoint, with performers cast
into character roles. The saxophonist will represent Uranium-235, which is the isotope used in
nuclear fission reactors. Since the two electronic musicians will be standing in front of arrays of
knobs, buttons, and screens, they will act as the power plant operators.
The piece will be cast into six continuous movements. The first movement will establish
the two electronic musicians as power plant operators, and will thematically represent the nuclear
reactor coming online. Movements two through five will portray the reactor overloading and its
subsequent meltdown. The final movement will feature the saxophonist without the other two
musicians symbolizing the long half-life of Uranium-235.
The works primary pitch languages will include pentatonic, synthetic, and modal scales.
Use of these readily identifiable scales will establish clear connections between nonconsecutive
movements. For instance, the consonant harmonies and lamenting qualities suggested by Dorian
mode will be illustrated in movement four to depict the fear of the power plant operators.
Rhythm will be a driving force of Fukushima Meltdown Reactor, with movements one,
three, and six featuring gestures cast in standard notation. Despite this organization, the order and

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frequency of these gestures will be indeterminate within certain temporal frameworks.
Movements two and six will modulate between extremely slow and extremely fast tempi,
exploring perceptual differences between individual sound events.
Technology will serve as a central focus in Fukushima Meltdown Reactor. The
saxophonist will be amplified and one of the electronic musicians will be primarily responsible
for processing and manipulating the instruments sounds in the Ableton Live signal-processing
environment. The other electronic musician will cue fixed media sounds, operate software
instruments created in the Max/MSP audio programming language, and trigger video clips.
To expand the pieces concept into the visual realm, individual, concept driven
animations will serve as a digital version of a stage set. Materials such as hyperboloid shapes, the
Bohr model of the atom, and clips of news coverage from various nuclear disasters will be
employed. The animations will be designed to play as a seamless loop, so that they can be
relatively short, yet not cause a visual disturbance and distract from the performers on stage.
Each of the piece's elements will derive inspiration from different media.
Compositionally, Ryoji Ikedas Supercodex will inform the more percussive movements of my
work. Gyrgi Ligetis Le Grand Macabre will influence the piece in terms of its musical drama.
Paul Dreshers work Schick Machine will compel me to consider the dramatic elements of this
piece. Various animations by graphic designer/3D artist Mike Winkelmann (aka beeple) will
inform nonlinear and looping video techniques to be used in the works.
I will complete Fukushima Meltdown Reactor by late January. Netmoir will rehearse the
work in February with ample time for revision and refinement prior to the premiere. The work
will be performed in March 2015 at the Cla-Zel Theatre in Bowling Green, Ohio.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Scores
Bloland, Per. FeXIV." PDF. 2007. http://www.perbloland.com/userfiles/file/FeXIV-score2.pdf.
Crumb, George. Makrokosmos vol. II. New York: C. F. Peters, 1973.
Ligeti, Gyrgi. Le Grand Macabre. New York: Schott, 2003.
Rzewski, Frederic. The People United Will Never be Defeated: 36 variations on El pueblo unido
jams ser vencido. Tokyo: Zen-on Music, 1979.
Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Klavierstcke, no. 11. London: Universal Edition, 1970.
Videos/Performances
beeple. "VJ Clips. beeple. Accessed November 19, 2014. http://www.beeple-crap.com/
vjclips.php.
Bloland, Per. FeXIV (Iron Fourteen). Digital Video. Accessed November 24, 2014. http://
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cyriak. "Baaa." YouTube video. Posted June 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQOaOdJLiw&list=UU9Ntx-EF3LzKY1nQ5rTUP2g.
Kubrick, Stanley. Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
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Ligeti, Gyrgi. Ligeti, Le Grand Macabre, 1a part. YouTube video. Posted March 2013. https://
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McCall, Spencer. The Institute. Gravitas Ventures, 2013. DVD, 92 min.
Paik, Nam June. Good Morning Mr. Orwell. YouTube Video. Posted November 2013. https://
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Audio Recordings

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Burial. Rival Dealer. 2013. Hyperdub. HDB080, 33 rpm.

Crumb, George. Makrokosmos volumes I & II. Jo Boatright. 1999. Music and Arts Programs of
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Dresher, Paul. Slow Fire. Paul Dresher Ensemble. 1992. Minmax Music. CD 010, compact disc.
Flying Lotus. You're Dead. 2014. Warp Records. WARPLP256, 33 rpm.
Ikeda, Ryoji. Supercodex. 2013. Raster-Norton. R-N150, compact disc.
Martirano, Salvatore. L's GA: For Gassed-Masked Politico, Helium Bomb, and Two-Channel
Tape. Michael Holloway and Donald Smith. 1974. Polydor. 24-5001 Polydor, 33 rpm.
Merzbow. Music for Bondage Performance. 1991. Extreme. XCD 008, compact disc.
Rzewski, Frederic and Sergio Ortega. The People United Will Never be Defeated! Marc-Andr
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Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Klavierstcke Vol II. Bernhard Wambach. 1997. Koch-Swan. CD 310
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