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Mama

(click on image for album info)

(2004)

Forces: 16 voices, doll percussion



Duration: 2'16"

Originally entitled mama-papa-nana due to its constituent parts, the piece came about after watching an episode of the Fast-Show in which the posh alcoholic bloke starts imitating a mechanical doll.

The piece originated as an improvised recording which I then scored.

The score is made up of three parts:

Mama - A family photo-album featuring a doll with performance directions etched on her forehead, indicating the tempo and pitch of the repeated "mama"s. 

Papa - A cine-cam film of a man banging a nail into a piece of wood indicating when to strike a doll on a hard surface, whilst a child bounces a ball in a playground, indicating when to vocalise a "pa".

Nana - Written directions on how to generate pitches with which to sing "na", generated from a game of Paper-Scissors-Stone.

I once sent the piece to the NSPCC for their advertising campaign, but they said they didn't want to frighten off donators.

The piece is featured on the album The Best of "Futility Music" - Volume 1 (left)​, alongside Three Boxes and a Cube.

(click on image to enlarge gallery)

Papa

Mama

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