33 1/3: Full Score

33 1/3 forces a reckoning with what ensemble performance means. Rather than asking musicians to execute notes, it asks them to make real-time decisions about everyday objects, shifting the creative weight from composer to performer in ways that still surprise and provoke.

Unsettling and oddly meditative. The familiar hum and crackle of turntables occupies a liminal space between accident and intention, inviting audiences to listen differently to sounds they usually ignore.

This work is for ensembles ready to question their assumptions about what constitutes a musical performance. High school and university groups with adventurous directors and engaged listeners will find it most rewarding.

• Establish clear visual cues among performers before starting; without a traditional score to follow, synchronized attention replaces synchronized rhythm.
• Experiment extensively during rehearsals with different turntables, speeds, and materials. The sonic palette changes dramatically with equipment, so treat this as an instrument selection process.
• Consider the performance space acoustically. The resonance of turntables varies enormously depending on room size and surface reflectivity.

Position this as a concert finale or standalone event rather than alongside conventional repertoire. It works best when audiences understand the conceptual frame beforehand, transforming the performance into a shared listening experiment.

• Ensemble listening and coordination without audible cues
• Collaborative decision-making and real-time interpretation
• Understanding notation systems beyond traditional staff notation
• Critical thinking about the definition and purpose of music