ryan rapsys :: composer, producer, musician, filmmaker

2008: 53 Sonic Sculptures, an experimental electronic composition by Ryan Rapsys – A fresh composition molded out of vast wastes of recorded material, improvised or composed, created and molded using every avant-garde, experimental and eccentric technique possible…one new sound sculpture composed every week for the entire year, changing with the seasons and my whims and experiences. Each accompanied with a somewhat thorough or vague explanation about the creation composition. Listen now! 

The-Novus-Arcadia CD, a feature length compact disc by Ryan Rapsys – “Overall, [The-Novus-Arcadia's] an immensely enjoyable experience, and it could well become a piece of electronic art that may be a required listen in the near future.” – Muse’s Muse, 7/31/2007

Two Movements for Video and Electronic Sounds
I. Scherzo
II. Snow
Completed: 04/2002

This abstract, multimedia piece is an attempt to create a sort of visual realization of the concept of music. By synchronizing the rhythms of the cuts with the rhythms in the music, as well as displaying video that suggests certain sounds as those sounds occur in the music, a tight cohesion between the music and the video is achieved. This is done in two extremely contrasting movements. The first is a fast, unpredictable scherzo with a bit of a techno flavor. The second is a much slower movement that uses pseudo-orchestral, electronic textures as its primary material.

Concrète Music for Nosferatu
Completed: 03/2002
Listen: Hear Music

This is my submission for the Young Film Composers Competition. It is to accompany the Nosferatu clip which can be found here, along with the information on the competition: Young Film Composers Competition

This is a musique concrète work that uses piano sounds (both inside and out of piano), acoustic guitar, bowed tam tam, conga, marimba (played with 20 oz pop bottles), and crunching egg shells as source material. All sounds were performed and recorded by the composer.

Fantasy Interlude for Orchestra
Completed: 02/2002

This piece is an abstract work that contains two primary thematic melodies, both of which have smaller motifs within them that are also used throughout the work. The very opening of the piece uses the first three notes of the first melody, which hooks the ear by its use of an upward leap, staccato and a repeated note (m. 1, clarinet 1-2). This first melody is played in full at m. 4 in clarinet 1-2. The second melody is heard in full at m. 18 in the low winds, brass, and strings. The majority of the compositional material is derived from those two ideas.

The structure is somewhat sectional, each section a further development of either of the two main themes. Gradually, they begin to layer and interweave together in a more contrapuntal manner. The conclusion is made of layers of a motif derived from the second theme.

Harmonically, the piece shifts rather freely between different keys, primarily Bb major (the key of the piece), Eb major, and A major. Most of the chords are colored by almost always containing the major 7th, usually in the upper registers of the orchestra. Most of the chords are orchestrated in the fashion of the overtone series, thus making the chord shifts much clearer.

Rhythmically, this piece constantly shifts from a feeling of 3/4 (the time signature of most of the piece) to a feeling of 6/8, often juxtaposing the two ideas simultaneously.

Program Notes

This short, abstract work is primarily an attempt to work with thematic material by first introducing two themes independently, and then gradually interweaving them, all the while maintaining harmonic coherence. Small, melodic fragments (derived from either of the two main themes) are passed between many different instruments. Another
aspect of the work is the way in which it constantly uses the same material, but in very different ways (primarily through orchestration), never repeating a section exactly. The nature of the melodic material seems to me to reflect the idea of an epic fantasy that contains a lot of humor. They have a playful characteristic, yet occasionally have a more heroic or somber feel to them.

Agoraphobia
Completed: 12/2001
Listen: Hear Music

This is a new electronic work that tests the limits of intensity in music capable with the electronic medium. The feeling of agoraphobia (an abnormal fear of open or public places) is depicted aurally by complex textures of mostly recognizeable pre-recorded sounds. Some of the source sounds that can be heard within the piece include applauding, crowd noises, coughing, a band warming up, clanging silverware, a radio tuning, and the composer’s family singing “Happy Birthday” to him completely out of tune on his 21st birthday.

Minor Transitions
for two marimbas
Completed: 11/2001

In this piece, each player is to repeat a short fragment of music independently for an indeterminate length of time before moving on to the next. Therefore, the overall length of the piece is completely up to the performers. Each fragment is put in its smallest divisible form as to allow the most flexibility with movement between fragments. Most of the fragments are in different time signatures, negating the sense of a downbeat and creating a free-floating, poly-metric feel. Dynamics are not indicated as they are also to be improvised. This work, although originally written for two marimbas, has the option of being performed on any various groupings of instruments.

Love Song
Completed: 10/2001
This work concentrates on a pedal tone of Bb, which is heard through the entire piece. A number of electronic textures lead up to the climax, which exposes the Bb as the third of a Gb Major chord. It is also the point at which the highest and lowest sounds are heard. The structure of the piece is based exactly on the idea of the Golden Mean. This idea states that it is most asthetic to have the smaller section in the same proportion to the larger as the larger is to the whole. In this particular interpretation/application, this would mean that the climax should occur exactly 61.8% into the piece. Since the piece is exactly 5 minutes long, the climax occurs 3 minutes and 5.4 seconds into it.

Supplication
for Ten Percussionists and Electronic Sounds
Completed: 10/2001

supplication \Sup`pli*ca”tion\, n. [F. supplication, L. supplicatio.] 1. The act of supplicating; humble and earnest prayer, as in worship.
2. A humble petition; an earnest request; an entreaty.
3. (Rom. Antiq.) A religious solemnity observed in consequence of some military success, and also, in times of distress and danger, to avert the anger of the gods.

Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

The idea behind this piece was to create a complex texture in which it was difficult to distinguish between the acoustic and electronic sounds. I wanted to aurally simulate a conversation between a person and a god-like being. The acoustic sounds represent the human’s petition, while the electronic sounds represent the abstract dialogue of the higher being. All of the electronic sounds are derived from a recording of the acoustic music of the same piece. Therefore, the acoustic sounds would seem to morph directly into electronic sounds and vice versa, therefore simulating some kind of dialogue.

Cadence
Work in Progress
Listen: Hear Music

Cadence is a series of pieces I’m currently working that experiments with minimalist cadence ideas in each key. They are exerimental, electronic classical pieces. Each one is very different and explores different subtleties in electronic timbre and color. This is currently a work in progress–seeing as though my experimentations have been somewhat successful thus far, I plan on completing a “Cadence” piece in each key.

Contents: A Minor (1:36), D Major (2:03), C Major (1:29), and F Major (1:51)

Metamorphosis of Electronic Themes
Completed: 05/2000

This is a hybrid of traditional classical form with contemporary electronics. I created several abstract, electronic “themes” and gradually modified them electronically, being very careful to maintain the essence of the original sounds in order to create a very neat coherence to the whole of this long work.

The emotional impact of this work is intended to be born out of its unique sounds and the way they are able to produce a number of imaginative visuals. Those visuals are to be linked psychologically to the sounds that first produce them, and as these sounds are heard throughout the work, they should piece together a series of recurring visuals, hopefully evoking an emotional response of some kind. The piece is purely abstract, and as such, I encourage a wide range of interpretations.

Auditory Metamorphosis
I. Mutation One
II. Mutation Two
Completed: 04/2000

This piece, as with Scissors, began as a concept: what if I created a theme in one instrument that repeated continuously faster and faster until it became one single pitch, with which the noise would stop, only to begin again, playing the same theme with this new instrument? With this idea in mind, I began this piece.

I found that there were two ways I could go about with this idea: I could gradually compress the wave, which would make the loop go faster and faster as well as higher in pitch; or I could just gradually increase the tempo, which would only make the loop go faster, not higher in pitch. I thought that attempting both and making them two separate
movements for this piece would be best.

For the first movement, I decided on an instrument I created–a distorted whistle sound–to create the loop. With it, I created the theme, which incorporates the contemporary techniques of odd meter (5/8) with some twelve-tone techniques. Using an almost minimalistic approach, I repeated this theme continuously as it slowly got faster
and faster until it got so fast, it turned into a near constant pitch. With this new instrument, I repeated the theme again, etc. To create more interest, I added a flanger effect to the theme, as well as some reverb. The low, slow-moving, flangering sound in the background is actually the theme, slowed down slow enough so that one cycle of it equals the length of the entire piece.

The second movement utilizes economy of material. The loop is the same exact loop as in the first one, just in retrograde and with a distorted harp sound. However, the outcome of the piece, although constructed in nearly the same way as the first movement, is quite different due to the different technique used to increase the tempo. Again, the background morphing sounds are different layers of the same theme expanded to different lengths.

Fantasy for Piano and Electronic Sounds
Completed: 03/2000

With all the work I was doing with electronic music, I was very interested in becoming involved with electroacoustic music (that is, music written for traditional acoustic instruments and electronic sounds). Of course, the first dilemma I encountered was how to coordinate a performer and CD with electronic sounds engraved at particular moments in time. To solve this, I primarily used two techniques: the piece is barred according to sections of time (5”, 10”, etc.), with cues on the CD to help the performer; and the sounds on the CD are graphically represented on the performer’s score.

Of course, keeping in time with the CD is not the only difficulty. The performer must also execute a number of extended techniques with the piano, such as brushing the strings inside the piano, knocking on the outside of the piano, etc. There are a number of improvisatory sections as well, which allows some considerable freedom for the performer, creating to a unique performance every time.

As far as overall structure of the piece, it is based on the concept of the Golden Mean. As applied to music, this concept states that the climax of the piece should occur after 61.2% of music. I applied this concept to my piece by creating the climax slightly after three minutes of music (the piece is approximately five minutes long). As far as the choice of particular pitches, I used a combination of set theory and twelve tone technique, as well as a motivic design (repeated, recognizable themes).

Scissors
Completed: 03/2000
Listen: Hear Music

This piece began as just a concept in my head: what if I recorded one sound and created an entire piece from it? I decided that might be a good idea, so I began narrowing down what sound I should use. I immediately decided that the simpler the sound, the better the concept would be, and the final product would be that much more creative. Eventually, I settled on the sound of scissors clipping. Because of the sharp, short sound created by the scissors, I decided a faster/more rhythmic piece would be fitting for a couple reasons: to take advantage of the faster sounds produced from the original sound, as well as to musically represent the mechanical, intense, and fast-paced world of today.

And with these ideas, I began my piece. I only recorded one sound of scissors clipping–just one fast clip sound. With that, I created eleven different instruments of varying durations of attack. Once the instruments were created, I composed the piece and instrumented it for the eleven instruments. With the entire basic frame of the piece complete, I add extra touches of sound manipulation to different sections of the piece, such as some slow, morphing sounds in the background. The explosion at the end of the piece is actually the entire piece compressed within a fraction of a second, with the added touch of a slight echo.

Fugue in Hip Hop
Completed: 02/2000

Around the time the concept for this piece materialized, I was heavily involved with working on rap music for my friend the rapper, who I was producing for. We had been working hard on creating a new demo. I also had just finished my first semester at college, concluding the semester in Music Theory class by analyzing fugues. I also had recently been studying twelve-tone techniques through composition class at UMD, as well as on my own. It was during this period that the idea to incorporate all of these into one piece came to mind.

This piece is a twelve-tone contemporary fugue. I developed a twelve-tone theme, which is a theme that uses exactly twelve pitches without repeating a single pitch. With that theme, I created a piece in a contemporary fugue form, which means I stretched the traditional rules related to the fugue. I used a number of contemporary, twelve-tone techniques (retrograde, inversion, etc.) as well as electronic effects (reverse, echo, reverb, flanger, etc.), all the while maintaining a contrapuntal, fugal design.

Noise
Completed: 12/1999
Listen: Hear Music

This piece started out as an experiment to test a theory of “music.” I decided that music really could be any series of organized sound with the intent of moving the listener toward an emotional response. To challenge this, I decided to take something commonly heard–static noise (such as heard on a television when it is not on any particular channel)–and manipulate it in an organized fashion to evoke emotion. What emerged was a surrealistic landscape of noise, a morpheous journey through modern age.

The idea seemed good, but the problem, I thought, would be in creating an interesting, wide range of sounds and colors. This was quickly resolved when I discovered that, when I applied a total noise reduction on the noise, ironically, there was some sound remaining: a constant, random, very quiet beeping noise. I took this sound and manipulated as desired to create the effects I wanted.