Alyssa and I originally crossed paths on a Facebook post about quarter tone writing for flute and its effect on timbre - clearly a direct correlation to my project. After further discussion about my research and my looking at her existing piece Sun Glitter for alto flute (most of which are closed hole), we thought that exploring the concepts and sounds in that piece with the possibilities offered by the Kingma System would be a great endeavour for the both of us. 

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Alternate fingerings are used throughout the work to explore different timbres and the added flexibility of the Kingma System combined with the preference of timbre over intonation allowed for some interesting fingerings and timbres to be created. Some are fragile and a little unpredictable, breaking into multiphonics at the slightest change of air pressure or hitting stronger partials in the sound if the air angle isn't quite right. These inaccuracies lead to interesting moments in performance especially when interacting with the electronics. 

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The electronics of Sun Glitter are made up of recordings of myself playing through the piece at a really slow tempo, exploring each nook and cranny of the various timbres and replaying notes with other fingerings. There is no synchronisation with the score and it is up to the performer to listen to the track and get a feel for the duration and signposts such as swells and hits and to react to the tape as a duo partner. This has lead to several interesting performances where the track has ended before the flute and vice versa, both offering different perspectives on the same material. 

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"I am interested in composing works that use microtonal, or, alternative intonations, from a perspective that is connected with performance practice rather than theoretical concepts alone. This work explores the way in which intonation and timbre interact, focusing on the influence of timbre changes on intonation."

- Alyssa Aska

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