Of Dinosaurs and Other Creatures

for synthesizers, Weathered Piano and Disklavier grand piano
2023, 4th order Ambisonics
[►] video with binaural audio

Program Notes

June 1st 2023

Three Dinosaurs will be part of tonight's singing herd. The thundering Applesauce Modular Mark V (unknowingly kickstarted by Mark Applebaum / Joan Friedman and the beginning of the pandemic), the much smaller but quite intricate PingNoise Modular (housed in a custom case that used to be my dad's attaché), and the tiny and almost invisible Kastle 1.5.

On top of this cornucopia of electronic sound I am also layering the warm metallic mutterings of the Weathered Piano, last seen on stage in 2019. Beautifully detuned by rain and sunshine, its sonic qualities have been frozen and preserved, and now it sings again for you. Of course it also resonates through the throats of two of the dinosaurs, who routinely eat pianos as apettizers.

The last addition to this sonic zoo is a very exotic instrument, a Disklavier grand piano that happened to walk by the Stage and was captured by the dinosaur herd. Its keys are invisibly pressed by algorithms written in the arcane language of the Droid (which lives in its own tiny eurorack enclosure). Custom software, custom controllers, but regretfully very much in tune. We'll see if it fits in...

Performances

• Of Dinosaurs and Other Creatures, The Stage, Stanford University, June 1st 2023

Fernando Lopez-Lezcano

Composer, performer, lecturer and computer systems administrator at CCRMA, Stanford University

Quick Links

El Dinosaurio
Applesauce Modular Mark V
Planet CCRMA

Music & Performances

Of Dinosaurs and Other Creatures
The Well Modulated Dinosaur
The Love Songs of Flying Dinosaurs
El PianoSaurio
Dinosaur He[a]rd!
Wings
Resurrections
Pia[NOT] Etude
The Miraculous Multiplication of Strings
Y Sonó Como Arpa Vieja
Un Esqueleto en la Cocina
The Hidden and Mysterious Machinery of Sound
Modulate me, please?
Space, S[acred|ecular]
Vox Voxel
Toast and Jam
Divertimento de Cocina
Velvet Skin, Heart of Steel
Fugue 1 (Fanfare)
Jurassic Modulations
Earth Songs
Dinosaur Skin
A Very Fractal Cat, Somewhat T[h]rilled
65 Second Bycicle
The Dinosaur At War
Exit Variations
El Dinosaurio Habla
Kitchen <-> Miniature(s)
Instant Knoll
iICEsCcRrEeAaMm
House of Mirrors
With Room to Grow
Knock knock, anybody there?
Three Dreams
Espresso Machine II
Hot'n Cold
Quest