Prime Ordinals

Jim Casella

Medium-Advanced Multiple-percussion solo with audio

Instrumentation:

• Djembe
• Large Tibetan bowl
• Personal computer(Mac or PC, with a 4×4 audio interface)

Prime Ordinals is a unique solo for amplified djembe, with a prayer bowl and audio soundscape, composed by Jim Casella. The piece is formed through an ordered sequence of prime numbers in which the ordinals occur as note groupings, meters, phrasings, or the amount of semi-tones spanned by the portamento in the soundscape accompaniment.

The soloist is called on to create a variety of timbres from the djembe through different striking or muting techniques. The sound from the djembe is also being sent through a digital delay effect at a rate of 333.33 milliseconds. The delay effect plays a critical role in the rhythmic outcome when combined with the sounds originated by the player. The resulting whole represents a unique interplay that is deliberate, sometimes chaotic, but always greater than the sum of its parts.

Prime Ordinals comes with a custom designed software player (compatible with Mac or PC) which serves as an interface for audio inputs, built-in delay effect, soundscape playback and mixing, as well as giving the performer the ability to monitor the soundscape with a click track to ensure a synchronized performance.

This piece comes with a full, bound score and includes a software player in Mac and PC formats, a printable notation key, a reference recording of the full piece, and source audio files for those wishing not to use the software player.