Brian M. John

Having Lost the Full Subtlety of Significance (Translation Étude), for guitar and electronics, 2016

Score:

Start with a Jacquard weave draft by someone else, preferably a friend or collaborator.

Modify the draft to suit your intentions as the performer. (It should still be possible to weave the new draft.)

The piece will begin at the first row, as you would weave it.

Choose a note, a chord, a sound, or a rest (silence) to play for each black and each white pixel in the draft (every visible warp or weft thread).

Choose a note value (duration) for each black and each white pixel; these may be the same or different.

Begin playing that row.

When satisfied with the sound and/or silence, move on to the next row while continuing to perform the previous one(s).

Choose another two notes/sounds/rests and note value(s), and begin playing the next row.

Repeat until every pixel of every row has been performed.

Feel free to quit at any time.

Attempt to learn from your failure(s).