Tom Flaherty

11-13 Musicians With Fixed Media

Composer's Note:

"Bowling Bells" is an excuse to listen carefully to a few everyday sounds, and to celebrate their extraordinary beauty. Central to the piece are two stainless steel bowls which have served hundreds of pounds of salad to our many guests over the years. I have always marveled at the rich sonority that each produces with the slightest encouragement. They are nearly perfectly tuned a minor third apart (though with everyday use that perfection does vary from dent to dent,) and they signal major points of arrival in the piece.

The 2-5 channel playback is of digital retunings of the metal bowls, yielding 15 equally spaced pitches within the minor third. The 30 glass bowls used here have served hundreds of gallons of soup to many guests over the years, and have a range or nearly a minor third also, with many pitches in between. Performers sound the bowls with various implements found in most homes: toothbrushes (10-12), marbles (12-20), combs (12-20), trickling water, and fingers.