Composer Michael Wittgraf‘s Autogenous Mining for four double basses and Kyma will be premiered by the Chicago Bass Ensemble February 3rd 2012 at 8:00 p.m. at the Experimental Sound Studio 5925 North Ravenswood, Chicago and reprised on February 5th in Bennett-Gordon Hall at Ravinia as part of the Chicago Bass Festival in Highland Park, Illinois.  On February 5th at 2 pm, the Chicago Brass Ensemble will be joined by Mike Wittgraf and several other composers for a demonstration and Q&A on the subject of contemporary music for bass ensemble.
Autogenous Mining is a seven-minute work for four double bassists and a computer operator using Kyma X. The work exploits the size and weight of double bass strings, which afford an enormous variety of timbres and dynamics. The performers are asked to “mine” their own strings for all the sound that they can find. The computer assists this task by finding even more sounds. Autogenous Mining is about listening, reacting, and forging new paths in order to maximize the amount and variety of sounds extracted from the ore in the strings.
All four double basses are mic’d and fed through Kyma for manipulation. The resulting interactive output is broadcast to the audience over quadraphonic speakers.
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