“Improvisation for Tuber” features my custom three-person wind instrument, the Tuber, initially conceived after realizing that multi-person wind instruments are largely nonexistent. The instrument presents a solution to the problems of composing for free improvisers by eliminating the need for graphic scores, loose prompts, or processing. The Tuber becomes a pseudo-score as the performers are forced to work together to interface with the bizarre apparatus. Sounds and choices made by each player affect the others, creating an peculiarly unpredictable environment. Every action is felt in the other performers’ mouth, and in many cases interfere with or cancel out each other. This foreign haptic-feedback, combined with the close proximity required to play the instrument, defies cultural standard of personal space. The result is an otherworldly performance object whose musical identity is generated by the sum of the three performers’ contributions.

Improvisation for Tuber was performed by Marta Tiesenga, Ethan Marks, and Louis Coy on 4/25/17. It was also recorded in the CalArts DRS on 5/8/2017.