I’ve long had a hunch that even small differentials in the likelihood of having pieces performed between women and men composers can have a huge cumulative effect over the long-term. My partner Neil Banas is a computer modeller, and he made me an interactive model for this article (published on New Music Box), which indeed bears out my theory. Drag the blue sliders to see how gender (or other) inequality may affect composers over the course of their careers.
I’m listening to a lot of bobolink song, as research for the new piece I’m writing for the Vancouver Symphony (to be premiered at the Vancouver Symphony New Music Festival in January 2019). Bobolink song sounds incredible when you hear it live (or on a full speed recording) — shiny, bubbly, almost metallic. But to me, it’s even more incredible when you slow it down so you can really hear the intricate interactions between the notes. Here is one example that you really should listen to right now! I’ve taken a fragment of a song and presented it at 1/8 speed, 1/4 speed, 1/2 speed, full speed, and finally the entire song at full speed. (The recording of this song was made by Andrew Spencer, and can be found on the Xeno-Canto website.)
