Flowerpot Music by Elliot Cole

Artistic Director, Peter Ferry

Make Music Day Book - Quarantine Edition

PERFORMANCE SCORE

Unfolding Blooms:
Ensemble leader: 5 notes
Ensemble: single stick tap

Just ensemble leader: New bloom |: repeat :|

Add players gradually on each repetition

Swells with stick

Play three times: New bloom… faster... softer + smoother... softer + slower…
(Long silence)

Swells with stick

Frisbee:
Frisbee with trios, notes getting closer together, stop

Small Blooms:
||: Ensemble single stick tap
Group #1: New bloom… faster… repeat… repeat… slower… slower + softer... :||

Repeat for each Group in order (#1, #2…)

Traveling Swells:
Travelling mallet swells. Stick swells returning to computer. Long silence.

Bloom-song:
New bloom… faster… slower… softer… slower… repeat… keep repeating
At some point, add a long hum to your flowerpot note

PIECE IS OVER: APPLAUSE

 REHEARSAL PLAN FOR ENSEMBLE LEADER

OVERVIEW
We’re making community music during the pandemic. It’s a brand new idea, that we’re
all coming together to support.
There will be surprises and technology challenges, that’s okay! This is a low stakes, low
pressure space.
These pieces are not about doing anything perfectly, it’s about playing together.
We’re offering the sounds of flowerpots and ensemble to others.

Each performance is twenty minutes. There is one hour to rehearse before.

Performance will be in a special Zoom link that’s being shared over a live stream.

PREPARATION
(Some settings will not be available to phone or tablet users, which is OK!)

Gallery view, full screen.

Position flowerpot in front of camera so both flowerpot and mallet (or substituted
instrument/implement) are clearly visible. Everyone has headphones. Cameras are
positioned so there is space behind players to walk around.

In audio settings, Advanced:

Check the box allowing “Enable Original Sound”
Disable suppression of both persistent and intermittent background noise.
Back in audio settings:
Uncheck “Automatically adjust microphone volume”
Play your loudest note - adjust the Input Volume so the level is around 70%.
Softer - play closer to the microphone. Louder - play a bit farther away from
microphone.
Back to regular Zoom window:
Make sure “Original Sound” in upper left corner is on.

Soundcheck each of the roughly 9-25 players.

Make sure every player can see PERFORMANCE SCORE (Ideally printed. Could also
be in a separate window or screen.)
Ensemble leader use hand signals and chat as much as possible for clarity.
You can ask questions in the chat if you’re lost, but mute yourself so we don’t hear your
typing. (Can mute yourself if not playing for a long time, too.)
REHEARSE “Small Blooms”
Assign each player to a Group of 4-6 players (#1, #2, #3, #4…).
Type it out. Send it in the chat. Save it so you can share it in the performance
chat.
Remind that position on screen will change in performance Zoom meeting.
Begin with unison single stick tap (reminder to be further from microphone when playing
loudly).
Then teach how to “bloom” by group:
New bloom… repeat… repeat… slower… slower + softer.
Tip for maintaining a consistent position in the bloom: pick one person to watch
and follow.
Look at movement, run movement.

REHEARSE “Unfolding Blooms”

At the beginning of the piece, everyone starts with their flowerpot out of the camera’s
view. Bring flowerpot into the camera’s view for the first note.

Teach longer full ensemble gesture: New bloom… softer + smoother… softer +
smoother... softer + slower… (Long silence.)

New bloom |: repeat :| as a full ensemble.

New bloom |: repeat :| starting just ensemble leader, adding players each repetition.

Practice stick tap.

Teach swells with stick (always pause between each swell).

Look at score, run movement.

REHEARSE “Frisbee”:
Assign trios.
Type it out. Send it in the chat. Save it so you can share it in the performance
chat.
Remind that position on screen will change in performance Zoom meeting.

Instructions:
Start playing frisbee with your trio. Trios can start and continue independently.
Scoot your chair back to create a little more distance from the microphone. Only
strike your flowerpot when you “send” the frisbee, don’t strike when you “catch” it.
 At first, pretend you are far far away from them, so that the frisbee takes a long
time to pass.
Gradually grow closer together, until you are playing at the same time.
When you feel that you have played nearly simultaneously with your trio, stop.
Be careful that your “throwing” gesture doesn’t bring the pot too close to the mic -
it’s easy to accidentally get too loud.

Demonstrate with one trio.

Look at score, run movement.

REHEARSE “Traveling Swells”:

This movement has two parts:
1.) Swells with mallet while moving to different positions in the room (some
close, some far, some off camera).
2.) Ensemble leader in front of camera signals: swells with stick coming back
to computer

Look at score, rehearse at computer without leaving. Then run movement with walking.
Leave headphones plugged in, but ​quietly​ remove them and put them back on.
Note that when we take headphones off, we won’t be able to hear each other
talking until we’re all back.

REHEARSE “Bloom-song”:
Teach the group phrase:
New bloom… softer… slower… softer… slower… repeat… |: repeat… :|

Introduce the idea of doubling your pot with voice humming.

Hum should sustain much longer than the pot. Match the pot’s pitch, adjusting to
a comfortable octave as needed.

As the final phrase is repeated indefinitely, players individually and gradually add a hum
to their flowerpot.
Keep an eye on the time and repeat this phrase as much as needed to fill your
twenty-minute slot.

PIECE IS OVER.
When the ensemble leader stops beginning new gestures, the piece is over. All
players applaud. If you get to the end of your time earlier than expected, you can
interrupt your performance with applause.
QUESTIONS
Remind ensemble that it doesn’t need to be perfect, it’s a chance to play and listen in a
new way. There will be reverb added to the stream so everyone sounds ​amazing.​
Ensemble leaders are free to decide their ensemble will perform only part(s) of the
piece.

TIME TO PERFORM
Share the Performance Room link in the rehearsal chat for your players. End Meeting
For All as you leave.
Confirm Original Sound is on. Unmute microphones.
Resend trio and group assignments in the chat.
Have fun!

LEAVING PERFORMANCE
When your performance ends, the ensemble leader admits the next ensemble:
Click participants -> In the top right of the list window, click “Admit all.”
The ensemble leader assigns the next ensemble’s leader as Host.
Click participants -> In the list window, find the next ensemble leader’s name.
Click “More” next to their name, then click “Make Host.”
Share the Post-show room in the chat so your ensemble can celebrate together.
Make this handoff as non-verbal as possible (credits are listed on the stream).
No rush or pressure if it takes you a bit of time!

Thanks for participating​!

THE VOCABULARY

new bloom

Leader strikes their flowerpot once with a large visual gesture. This initiates an
ensemble phrase.

Within the following ten seconds, each player strikes their flowerpot once. The
default dynamic shape of a new bloom moves from a medium volume to a quiet
volume. The result should be a single wave of energy moving through you and
across the ensemble without long pauses.

Listen to the pattern that emerges as the notes ripple through the space,
particularly what notes come just before and after yours. Though the order of
notes is spontaneous for any “new” bloom, pay close attention to where you are
so you are able to replicate that bloom if needed.

The bloom instructions are additive. If the previous phrase was “slower” and the
next phrase is “repeat”, you should repeat playing slower. If the next phrase is
“softer”, you should repeat the bloom both slower and softer. For any “new”
bloom, the ensemble leader will gesture with a hand signal to help the ensemble
keep track.

repeat

Attempt to exactly reproduce the last bloom.

swells
Play a string of notes that rise and fall in volume (i.e. get louder over the course
of around 4 notes, then softer over the course of around 4 notes). Pause
between each swell. Each player swells independently.

frisbee

Just like frisbee: each strikes their pot while ‘passing’ the note to another player
with a physical gesture.

Think of the pacing of frisbee: the travel takes some time, and then the receiver
can take any amount of time they like before sending it off again.
stick
When stick is indicated, play with the hard shaft of your mallet. Everywhere else,
use the mallet head. For players using a mallet substitution, be in touch with your
leader to find a solution that works well for your implements.

…
a long pause

softer

Repeat the last bloom at a softer volume. Attempt to reproduce the timing
exactly.

slower

Repeat the last bloom with a little more time between each note.

faster

Repeat the last bloom with a little less time between each note.

smoother

Repeat the last bloom but try to match the wait time of the person you follow.