Search - Robert Spalding Newcomb :: On Time

'On Time' is a collection of four MIDI compositions composed in differing contexts, each offering an alternative perspective of time, expectation and memory. An intense yet relaxing, challenging yet rewarding listening experience. 'Return of the Ancient Children' is a multi-layered collage of performance approaches representing a procession of wise entities who pass before us while speaking in their own tongues. Juxtaposition and assimilation of these 'voices' proceed simultaneously, revealing their difference and similarity of style. 'Redbirds' is a soliloquy of guitar linguistics. Seeming very much like an extended tour-de-force raga, on repeated listenings the piece reveals itself to be highly structured, full of self-reflection, and a finely crafted commentary on what MIDI guitar soloing can become. 'Measured Breath' was composed as a detailed score for a moving yoga sequence. The emphasis is on the temporal and timbral balance of the physical breath with the evolution of a primal spiritual energy. A strenuous yet profoundly relaxing meditation inhabits this composition. 'Bonsai' was composed for a solo deaf dancer. This premise offers a multitude of challenge and wonder as the piece is heard without the dance component. Extremely energetic yet always rhythmically subtle, the eight-minute piece offers an evocative glance at the commentary of 'time' contained in the three preceeding twenty-minute compositions.