Daniel Corral is a composer/performer born and raised in Eagle River, Alaska. In Los Angeles since 2005, his work has been commissioned and presented by venues around the world, and he has collaborated with numerous fantastic artists. Corral taught at CalArts 2016-2020 and the LA DCA declared him a 2019–2020 Cultural Trailblazer. Past residencies include APPEX, Marin Headlands, I-Park, Banff Centre, and Djerassi. His music has been released by Populist Records, Orenda Records, Innova Recordings, the wulf. records, and independently, with a forthcoming album on MicroFest Records. His teachers include James Tenney and Anne LeBaron.
Artist Location: South Pasadena, CA
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PARTICIPATION
Snorkel Boxes
Proposed work as accepted for soundpedro 2021
96 Trossingen Snorkels
96 Trossingen Snorkels is a sound installation consisting of 8 cigar boxes with speakers, spread out on the perimeter of a space (indoor or outdoor), with the speakers pointing inward. Each cigar box has a Raspberry Pi within it, which algorithmically emulates the equivalent of 12 people breathing through harmonicas at independent speeds (totally 96 faux harmonicas).
In 2017, I created a work titled “Trossingen Snorkel” for 12 amateur harmonica players simply breathing at their own pace through their harmonicas in an outdoor space. “96 Trossingen Snorkels” emulates this piece as a sound installation, with the 8 cigar boxes taking the place of the 12 live performers.
Simultaneously, I can set up a web server to run the equivalent of one of the cigar boxes from users’ computers, phones, or other devices. This makes it somewhat interactive, and also translates well to a virtual presentation that people can set up in their own living room.
If the event does happen live and pandemic conditions make this seem reasonable, I would love to organize a live performance of the original Trossingen Snorkel in the same space as “96 Trossingen Snorkels.” This performance would involve 8-12 performers breathing slowly and deeply through harmonicas at the site, creating an ocean-like continuum of harmonies that blends with the fake harmonica sounds coming from the cigar boxes.
LA Canon
10 percussionists play swells on suspended cymbals at varying speeds, spread out in a large space.
Proposed work as accepted for soundpedro 2020
Five for Forty
Five for Forty is a spatialized sound performance featuring five musicians playing forty disembodied organ pipes that were rescued from an inoperable church organ. The music is sparse enough to serve as a frame for what incidental or environmental sounds are occurring simultaneously, though the music occasionally interlocks to create familiar consonances and dissonances. The performers are spread out in a circle around a room or outdoor space, and each has eight organ pipes pipes, which they will blow into like giant pan flutes. Each player has a graphic score that instructs them when to play which of their eight pipes, over the course of an hour (or other predetermined length of time). The music is based on stopwatch timings, so there is no need for a conductor or other forms of coordination. The goal of the piece is to activate a state of active listening in an otherwise sonically uninvestigated space. This would be the premiere of Five for Forty, which gives a great excuse to finish the piece. I hope for the duration to be about 60 minutes, though that is flexible and not yet set in stone.
Trossingen Snorkel
Trossingen Snorkel (TS) is a piece for twelve harmonicas, performed by people with little-to-no experience playing harmonica. I have twelve identical C harmonicas for the performers to play, and TS asks them to simply breathe through a harmonica for the full duration of the piece. It requires zero experience playing harmonica, and creates a really great. I’d love to do a version that is between 30-60 min, but am totally flexible about duration. TS was commissioned by Newtown Arts in 2017 as a site-specific work for the Del Mar Metro Gold Line station in Pasadena. The twelve musicians were spread out in the Metro Station’s reverberant stairwell, immersing passers by in a gently rippling polychord wash, like ocean waves rolling on a beach. TS has since been performed by Dog Star Orchestra in Los Angeles and at the VU Symposium in Park City Utah.