leescottnewcombe

 

The Anemoi

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The second unique design is an instrument that utilizes metal flue pipes taken from the diapason tonal family of the pipe organ which are arranged to be blown by mouth. The sound of a flue pipe is solely created from the vibration of air by blowing into the ‘windway’. This force is driven over the open window and against a lip known as the ‘labium’. When the wind pressure is large enough, the airstream is pulled under the labium into the pipe’s air column. This process then works in reverse by producing an area of low pressure that forms on the other side of the labium pulling the airstream backwards. The high- and low-pressure waves form a single cycle of the pipe’s tone which depends on the diameter and length of the pipe.

 

Groupings of organ pipes configured to be blown by mouth have been used by Frank Denyer in The Fish that Became the Sun (1991-94). Denyer modified wooden flue pipes to create “four sets of pipes, one consisting of three, one of four, and two of five pipes” that have been “bonded together to make a single instrument" (Denyer, Flutes and Reeds). The pipes are secured to an adjustable metal stand and tuned to an equi-heptatonic scale where the recurrent interval is 171 cents. One major difference between wooden and metal flue pipes is encountered when you blow into or handle a metal pipe consistently; the heat from the lungs and hands will transfer to the metal and affect the pitch. This needs to be considered when composing, but the issue is naturally abated by the temporal distribution of notes that arise from the processual pitch procedures.

 

In ancient Greek mythology there were four wind Gods, with each assigned a cardinal direction from where their respective winds emanated from. They were named; Boreas, the north wind; Zephyrus, the west wind; Notus, the south wind; and Eurus, the east wind. They were each associated with the cyclical seasons of the year and compass directions. The second instrument takes its name from the collective term for these gods of wind; the anemoi.

 

There are 54 pipes utilized on the anemoi, taken from the 12-tone ET octave region C3 to C4 from five separate ranks. Each pipe has a ‘tuning sleeve’ attached to the end which lowers the tone by expanding the length of the pipe, so the actual pitch range of the anemoi is from B3 - 5/4 (245 Hz) ascending to the octave doubling B4 - 5/4 (489.99 Hz). This pitch range was chosen as a compromise, as it adequately exemplifies the beating phenomena between close tones while still being of a small enough size to be easily portable.

 

The anemoi, like the diapason, is also divided into manual groupings. The instrument can be arranged as five or six manuals with ten/eleven or nine pipes assigned to each respectively. The reasoning for the increase in manuals follows that unlike the glasses which can be sustained for long durations, pipes can only be blown for much shorter time lengths, and added to this, it is unlikely that the performers are trained in the techniques of playing wind instruments. Also, a performer can only sound one pitch at any one time, whereas the diapason performers can sound two with a combined total of eight at any given moment. Having five or six manuals allows for an increase in pitch combinations as well as facilitating the requirement of individual ‘rest’ periods without the necessity of a cessation in sound. 

 

Each manual consists of a Yamaha CS865 boom cymbal stand, identical to the diapason, which allows for a specially made frame to be fixed to the tilter-system. This frame was realised by a blacksmith from a design created by me. A semi-circular arc at the front of the horizontal frame is attached to a rectangular section with two crossbars. The pipes sit on top of this and are secured to the frame using the hook and loop system developed by Velcro (the hook strip stuck to the frame and the loop strip stuck to the underside of each pipe). This makes the pipes secure when performing and allows them to be rolled off when deconstructing. 

 

The manuals can be spatially arranged within a performance environment in multiple formations: a straight line, an arc, a rectangle, a circle with outward facing performers , or a circle with inward facing performers. They can also be in remote spatial locations or situated between other sound sources.

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The anemoi is constructed with the same modular approach as the diapason. Each individual note can be moved and relocated depending on the requirements of each work. As the sequential chromatic system of note-layout has become redundant in my music, other systems of note groupings need to be developed that depend on the specific processual procedure of each work. Once the nine notes have been assigned to each manual, they are arranged with the lowest tone (the largest pipe) occupying the central position with each successive pipe alternating in position either side. Having the largest pipes located centrally to the frame stabilizes and balances the weight distribution. 

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