Ryan Chase

In 2013, I started to become especially concerned about the future of performers; the future of a diverse (but fragile) ecosystem of vocal and instrumental specialists in many musical traditions. Now in 2023, Spotify, Apple Music, and even YouTube dominate the musical economy.  This piece is about my fear of concert music becoming a quaint sideshow (while allowing it to openly indulge in tropes the boardwalkers want to hear).  At the time, I wanted to write something that sounded like a wind-up toy overspun and let loose to run amok before running out of steam.  I was thinking about a Venn diagram overlaying circles of protest music and process music. I was thinking about Mel Blanc voicing the “Rubber Band” from 1938’s Porky in Wackyland. The piece could be characterized as a kid trying to watch a cartoon while having a nervous breakdown.

There are three miniature rings in this one-movement circus for the instrumental acrobats who comprise Alarm Will Sound. The first ring is a digital-era collage of Mel Blanc’s Rubber Band and a cage littering of brass band music granulated and reconstituted for human players. The second ring gives us the balancing act of a solo trombone atop the spherically smooth groove of the band’s rhythm section. The third ring is a more restrained ballet of mechanical fleas, but their miniature motors start to fail almost as soon as they get started. The piece still sounds silly (thank goodness), but I think it’s rather serious.