Daniel Corral is a composer, performer, and an R+D For Parents/Guardians artist. His musical composition, 9 for 60, expands on two past projects featuring custom-built instruments. Through a residency at Studio Luna in Boyle Heights, Daniel was able to design and build instruments to be featured in his next compositions.
9 for 60
9 for 60 is a musical composition based on the physicality of sound and music ensembles as microcosms of society. The piece builds on 2 past projects featuring custom-built instruments: 5 for 40 (2020) and 4 for 20 (2022). In 5 for 40, I built 5 instruments from a set of 40 wooden organ pipes taken from a demolished church organ. They are played by 5 musicians spread out in a large space (thus 5 for 40). For 4 for 20, I created a set of 20 microtonal chimes, and wrote a piece for 4 musicians to play (thus 4 for 20). A broad definition of microtonality is music that uses pitches in between the notes on a piano. Exploring how microtonal systems can be part of my musical practice has been a major theme in my work over the last 9 years.
These pieces were undertaken in response to the pandemic. In light of clear signals that humanity as a whole is veering away from sustainability and empathy, how can art model a more balanced society? As my work has increasingly tried to address such questions, I’ve noted that it is more often in reaction to a parallel imbalance in my own life rather than a belief that I have a concrete answer for everyone else. Ultimately, what I hope to model in my work is the search for answers more than a declamation of solutions.
R+D
During my R+D project, I planned to accomplish 2 tasks, which lay the groundwork for composing 9 for 60 and enable future performances of 5 for 40.
- Redesign and rebuild the 5 for 40 instruments
- Design and physically implement a microtonal tuning for the 5 for 40 organ pipes so that they will be in tune with my 4 for 20 chimes
Studio Luna
Los Angeles Performance Practice connected me with Studio Luna so that I could occupy their Boyle Heights space May 15-19, 2023. This allowed me to keep tools and materials out and available as I worked—with a curious 1-year old at home, I have to be vigilant not to leave anything dangerous out. Working at Studio Luna allowed me to be much more efficient and clear-headed with my time.
5 for 40 stands
My original 5 for 40 instruments were designed quickly for a single performance, but I’ve since had several opportunities for performances and recording. The instruments were held together with zip ties, and needed to be much more durable if I was going to use them in the future. I could imagine the instrument stands I wanted to make, and having them set up at Studio Luna allowed me to revise this plan until I landed on something feasible. Thus, my 5 for 40 instruments were torn down and rebuilt in their current form.
5 for 40 tuning
Working with organs is not my usual forte, so tuning the organ pipes required some preliminary research (including a cold phone call to Sean Koreski, a builder of portative organs who was surprisingly generous in his time and advice). While I thought I would be able to tune my organ pipes during my residency, I was only able to make a plan for how I would tune them later.
Future
I’m currently working out a premiere date for 9 for 60, which will dictate my timeline for completing the project. Innova Records will also release a recording of the piece. These pieces and instruments are also part of development for an upcoming dance opera collaboration.
About Daniel
Daniel Corral is a mixed heritage Filipino-American composer/performer born and raised in Eagle River, Alaska. Based in Los Angeles since 2005, his creative practice draws inspiration from Marshall McLuhan’s definition of art as “exact information of how to rearrange one’s psyche in order to anticipate the next blow from our own extended faculties.” This manifests via combinations of pop culture and experimental music conceptual rigor; unique instrumentation; performances in outdoor and/or public spaces; microtonality; consideration of the relational values of performances; and pieces that address current issues like climate change, race relations, or online anonymity.
Corral’s music has been commissioned and presented by venues such as the BAM’s Next Wave Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Banff Centre, Joe’s Pub, REDCAT, Iceland University of the Arts, Mengi, Harpa, MATA, HERE Arts Center, Miami Light Project, Operadagen Rotterdam, Wayward Music, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hammer Museum, MoCA LA, Göteborg Art Sound Festival, USC, Center for New Music, CSUN, Pianospheres, Automata, Machine Project, SASSAS, the wulf., Pasadena All Saints Choir, Santa Monica GLOW Festival, CalArts, UCSD, Carlsbad Music Festival, and the Marin Headlands Center for the Arts.
Corral taught at CalArts 2016-2020. In 2022, the city of Los Angeles awarded him an “Individual Master Artist” grant, after having declared him a Cultural Trailblazer in 2019. Past residencies include APPEX, Marin Headlands Center for the Arts, I-Park, the Banff Centre, Djerassi, and Loghaven. His music has been released by Populist Records, Orenda Records, Innova Recordings, the wulf. records, MicroFest Records, and independently. His MFA is from CalArts, where his teachers included James Tenney and Anne LeBaron. Corral is also Operations Director of the Grammy-winning PARTCH Ensemble, on the board of MicroFest LA, and Co-Artistic Director of the Now Hear Ensemble.
