Alexander Noice Princeton Portfolio
Piece 2. Till We Have Faces.
Written for Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, Percussion and Analog Synths
Daniel Rosenboom-Trumpet
Gavin Templeton-Alto Saxphone
Cory Beers-Percussion
Alexander Noice-Synth programming
This is a piece I wrote and recorded last year. It is one of three movements written for this instrumentation that utilizes an unorthodox percussion setup. The approach for making the synth parts was similar to that of Cinerama Holy Days, the sort of Cage-ian "chance" operation that is described in that piece. I then composed the sax and trumpet parts more traditionally, using piano, guitar, and music notation software. Then, I got together with Cory and sorted out the specific pieces of percussion and junkyard objects I wanted to use. The other two movements have not been recorded, but I plan to do so next year and release it in 2025.
Piece 3. Breathe in the Ether.
Written for NOICE.
Karina Kallas-Voice
Argenta Walther-Voice
Gavin Templeton-Alto Saxophone
Colin Burgess-Bass
Andrew Lessman-Drums/Roland SPD-SX
Alexander Noice-Guitar
This is one of the pieces I wrote for my ensemble NOICE, which I have led for the past several years. The ensemble merges many of my musical interests and has been an important space for me to try out and develop ideas over the years. This is from our 2019 release, called NOICE, which came out on Orenda Records. I am currently working on new music for our next album, which is set to be released on Innova Records.
Piece 1. Cinerama Holy Days/They Talk Things Over
For my first compositional example, I want to share two shorter pieces. One is 4:10, and the other is 3:23, a total of 7:33. These are some most recent pieces I have been focusing on this past year and are both part of an electronic album that I will be releasing in 2024. I want to share two pieces to give a sense of the mood and sonic variety of the material I am preparing for this upcoming release, and it will give you a much broader sense of the type of music I have been working on lately.
Since they are electronic-based works, I do not have a traditional score for them. So, instead, I wrote a description of my process and inspiration for composing and recording these two pieces. I think they will be good companions to the audio and give some insight into how I am approaching this electronic-based work.
In both pieces, I restrict myself to using primarily one source material for all the sounds generated for each piece. "Cinerama Holy Days" is all sampled material from me playing an acoustic piano."They Talk Things Over" is all sampled audio material from 1960s television commercials.
If you are intrigued by the portfolio and would like to hear other examples of my music, click on Listen at the top of my website. There you will find links for ……
"NOICE," an album I released in 2019 for my six-piece ensemble NOICE, has eight pieces on it if you want a broader sense of what this ensemble sounds like
"Music Made With Voices" is an electronic album I made using a single note sung by eight different people, all of whom I have a very personal relationship with, ranging from fellow musicians to close friends and even my dad. For each track, by way of pitch shifters and various other effects, I take a single note from each person, put it into the computer, and then proceed in a mildly obsessive manner to chop, distort, and mold that original note into a sonic portrait of the person who sang it. "Argenta Walther" is a good one to check out if you want a flavor for the music on this album.
"Falsetto Teeth" is my former band from several years ago. This music combines art-rock/punk/electronic music and some other stuff thrown in there as well. The first track on the Bandcamp link, "Boiling High Idol," defines the group's sound well.
On this website, you can also find music videos, live performance videos, press links, and my full bio.
Thank you so much for taking the time to go over my portfolio. I hope you enjoy it!