"Field Anatomies" reviewed in The New York Times
"Laura Cocks recently released the album “Field Anatomies,” which begins with David Bird’s piccolo spectacular “Atolls.”"
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/arts/things-to-do-this-weekend.html
“This set gets off to a vivacious start with the composer David Bird’s “Atolls,” for a solo live piccolo that often plays alongside 29 prerecorded parts. In its opening minutes, the composition wastes no time in showing off Cocks’s febrile instrumental prowess. But there’s also much to revel in as the background piccolo parts take on a greater presence in the mix.
On his website, Bird writes that he derived pitches for the background piccolos by analyzing “a crash cymbal and Janet Leigh’s infamous scream from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho.’” Despite the clear sense of alarm carried by that source material, Cocks’s realization of the work evokes more contemplative moods. That satisfying, subtle array of approaches finds consistent expression across the balance of the album.”
SETH COLTER WALLS
Recipient of 2021 Fromm Commission
The Board of Directors of the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University is pleased to announce the names of fourteen composers selected to receive 2021 Fromm commissions.
The Board of Directors of the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University is pleased to announce the names of fourteen composers selected to receive 2021 Fromm commissions. These commissions represent one of the principal ways that the Fromm Music Foundation seeks to strengthen composition and to bring contemporary concert music closer to the public. In addition to the commissioning award, a subsidy is available for the ensemble performing the premiere of the commissioned work.
"Iron Orchid" reviewed in The Wire
Its paradoxical title, fusing intractable mass with delicacy, suits this music well. New Yorker David Bird hatched Iron Orchid in collaboration with Yarn/Wire pianist Ning Yu.
Its paradoxical title, fusing intractable mass with delicacy, suits this music well. New Yorker David Bird hatched Iron Orchid in collaboration with Yarn/Wire pianist Ning Yu. This intense yet finely detailed electroacoustic work was conceived initially as a component of Mark Reigelman's sound sculpture Echo Chamber, channeled through speakers concealed within a stack of metal tubes. Computer-generated sounds respond in kind to the piano's intrinsic articulateness, and despite the sustained density there are a multitude of subtleties to be discerned and discovered within its skeins of microtones and restless variations of texture and timbre.
Premiere of "Scatter" an Interactive Sound Map
Scatter is inspired by the elliptical orbit of Halley's Comet around the sun, Manhattan, and the orbits of transportation we regularly engage with in city life. Scatter maps these celestial and commonplace commutes into a singular experience.
Scatter is inspired by the elliptical orbit of Halley's Comet around the sun, Manhattan, and the orbits of transportation we regularly engage with in city life. Scatter maps these celestial and commonplace commutes into a singular experience. This project features recorded performances by Duo Axis, design by Myles Emmons, and development by Devin Frenze. Presented by Qubit.
"Iron Orchid" reviewed by An Earful
Bird, who first caught my ear on andPlay's wondrous Playlist, is obviously a deep thinker about sound, refusing to accept any limitations on what an instrument can do, in this case the piano…
Ning Yu & David Bird - Iron Orchid Yu's debut, 2020's Of Being was mightily impressive, but this album, a collaboration with composer David Bird, is a whole other animal. Bird, who first caught my ear on andPlay's wondrous Playlist, is obviously a deep thinker about sound, refusing to accept any limitations on what an instrument can do, in this case the piano, which is pushed to its limits as an object of wood and metal and plastic. Surrounding the sometimes startlingly heavy sonics generated by Yu are not only electronics but recordings collected from the Echo Chamber, an 11-foot tall sculpture created by Bird and Yu with Mark Reigelman that contains a speaker in each of its 56 metal tubes. That's all fascinating to know, but the overall experience of the album is of inventive, mind-expanding electroacoustic soundscapes, some spiky and herky-jerk, like a malfunctioning Terminator taking baby steps, others, like the staggering album-opener Garden, nearly overwhelming oceans of wall-shaking sound. I'm no audio elitist, but that latter quality is only fully realized on my good, old-fashioned component stereo. If there's one nearby, you owe it to yourself - and the dedicated team who made this extraordinary album - to play it there and at high volume.
http://anearful.blogspot.com/2021/09/record-and-concert-roundup-on-island.html#.YVX2fehKhPY
"Iron Orchid" reviewed by Sequenza 21
Composer and electronic musician David Bird’s work Iron Orchid enlists pianist Ning Yu as a collaborator. Bird’s electronics often provide steely sounds that accord both with the title and the inside the piano work that Yu does. In fact, the second word of the title plays a role in the piece as well, indicating the organic nature of its formal design.
Composer and electronic musician David Bird’s work Iron Orchid enlists pianist Ning Yu as a collaborator. Bird’s electronics often provide steely sounds that accord both with the title and the inside the piano work that Yu does. In fact, the second word of the title plays a role in the piece as well, indicating the organic nature of its formal design. So does the presence of live electronics against an acoustic piano, albeit one that has effects, microtones, and reverb as part of its palette. Thus in sections like “Iron,” reverb-hued electronics and string noise create thorny textures; an interesting coda involves a simple piano ostinato that is distressed with quarter tones and Bird unleashing plucking noises to a quasi-electronica beat.
The shape of Iron Orchid is somewhat hollowed out, with the outer movements of sizable duration while the central movements serve as aphoristic impressions. “Interlude” includes high sine tones throughout, with an atonal introduction followed by flowing ostinatos. “Prism” features a slow build from the electronics while foregrounded piano plays an angular and rising accelerando; Bird responds in kind with analog bleeps. “A Thin War of Metal” once again juxtaposes acerbic electronic textures with clusters and extended chords that give a nod to postmodern jazz. “Between Walls” returns the proceedings to inside the piano effects, this time against windswept electronics.
The final movement, “Petals,” brings together a number of non-metallic sounds to create a section that highlights the organic nature of Iron Orchid’s concept. A submarine klaxon opens the movement, followed by granular synth textures set against Yu playing reverberant single notes. A cello sample enters to create counterpoint against the piano, while a distorted series of electronic ostinatos push against the acoustic foreground. Yu takes up a mournful chord progression that banishes the most pointed electronic interjections, with bent notes, rumbling, and periodic percussive attacks creating an affecting coda. Iron Orchid is an engaging listen throughout. At a half hour long, it seems to cry out for a sequel to fill out a duo recital program. Here’s hoping.
https://www.sequenza21.com/2021/10/iron-orchid-cd-review/