things to do (2014-20)

things to do (2014-20) is an ongoing series of pieces which use a set of instructions in different categories (such as noises, pitches, devices and processes) to cue players. Players respond to instructions by realizing the defined actions as soon as possible after they are spoken. The differences in each piece, and the relationships between the players, are determined by constraints which govern who each player responds to and who gives instructions. It creates modes of interaction between individuals, allows group behaviours to emerge, and reveals the personal characteristics of each performer in an immediate way. Players may use any instruments, sound-producing objects, devices or sound processing equipment (digital, analogue, or acoustic), and performances are characterised by the wide range of personal choices brought together as a group.

you say what to do was commissioned by SPOR Festival and first performed by Mark Knoop & Serge Vuille with audience volunteers at Godsbanen, SPOR Festival, Åarhus, Denmark, 09.05.14. I tell you what to do was commissioned by Spitalfields Festival with funds provided by PRS Foundation and first performed by Stewart Lee with Magnitude Music at Village Underground, London, Spitalfields Festival, 16.06.14.

Score previews below, or download from the scores page.

everybody do this (2014)

[variable: at least four players / variable duration]

City University, London, 08.04.14 | Plus Minus Ensemble / Material / City University EMG

Michael Tippett Centre, Bath, 19.03.14 | Material

CCRMA, Stanford, USA, 05.12.15 | hot karl (weston olencki, helen newby, chris wood, bethanne walker)

Glasgow Experimental Music Series The Pipe Factory, 19.05.18

Dganit Elyakim, Nick Acorne, Valerio Zanini, The Sound of Sound, John Ogilvie Haus, Graz, 13.09.18

ENSEMBLE ALUNIR, Schlagzeug Debütkonzert, Museum Kleines Klingental Basel, 29.08.2018

you say what to do (2014)

[variable: at least one player with a group of 3-6 assistants / variable duration]

Godsbanen, SPOR Festival, Åarhus, Denmark, 09.05.14 | Mark Knoop & Serge Vuille, with audience volunteers

I tell you what to do (2014)

speaker, at least four players / variable duration

Village Underground, London, Spitalfields Festival, 16.06.14 | Stewart Lee / IlanVolkov / Magnitude Music

Glasgow Experimental Music Series The Pipe Factory, 19.05.18 | Gregor Forbes

lots and lots for us to do (2014)

[2 players / variable duration]

Italian Cultural Institute, London, 02.10.14 | Manuel Zurria / James Saunders

CCRMA Stage, Stanford University, 06.02.16 | people making sounds (Weston Olencki + Charlie Sdraulig)

Center for New Music, San Francisco, 10.02.16 | people making sounds (Weston Olencki + Charlie Sdraulig)

Center for New Music, Fransisco, 21.01.20 | SANS duo

I decide what it is I am going to do (2014)

[variable: at least four players / variable duration]

Arnolfini, Bristol, 23.08.14 | Set Ensemble

CCRMA, Stanford, USA, 05.12.15 | hot karl (weston olencki, helen newby, chris wood, bethanne walker)

we gradually have more things to do and fewer things to say (2015)

[variable: at least four players / variable duration]

Distractfold / The House of Bedlam / RNCM Electric Experimental Ensemble, RNCM, Decontamination 6, 08.03.16


all the things we make you do (2016)

[variable: at least two players with audience]

The Third Guy, Q-02, Brussels, 27 January 2017

we tell each other what to do but always listen to you (2016)

[variable: 2n+1 players]

KMN Berlin / Ensemble Komboï, RADIALSYSTEM V, Berlin, 29.04.17

sometimes we do what you say, but occasionally we don’t (2017)

[variable: at least two players with audience]

Le Grand Orchestre de Muzzix, La Malterie, Lille, 25.04.17
Performing Indeterminacy conference, Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, University of Leeds, 30.06.17

people do things apart (2020)

[large ensemble]

Performed by Nomi Epstein, Larry Goves, Louis d’Heudieres, Mark Knoop Rebecca Lenton, Thierry Madiot, Ruben Martinez Orio, Tim Parkinson, Katharina Plate, Gwen Rouger, James Saunders, Primož Suki?, Kathryn Williams. Recorded using Google Meet, Quicktime, and local audio devices. 29.06.20

what you must do, rather than must not do (2012)

[variable: at least four players with recordings / variable duration]

The Forge, London, 23.10.12 | Dedalus Ensemble