OF STEEL
This work is a research into the inner workings of resonating instruments (Oil Drum and Steel Drum) through a feedback system with Transducers using FFT-processing and filtering to focus on the overtones of the instruments. Bringing the inside of the instruments closely audible on the outside, and creating an interplay between the electronic sound and the live sound inside of the instruments.
The work was created during the 'Konstruct Project' of 2023, a collaboration between composers and percussionists from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, co-organised and guided by Slagwerk Den Haag.
Recorded during the performance of the project in Korzo Theatre the Hague, on 1 June 2023.
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Percussion: Dario Anton Doiz, Porter Ellerman, Bram van Helvoort
Live electronics & composition: Hidde Kramer
Production & light design: Stephie Kolman & Enric Monfort
Sound & recording: Korzo Theatre the Hague
Mix: Hidde Kramer
HYMNS/MIRAGES
Hymns/Mirages is a work written for, and in collaboration with, Kristia Michael in the context of a project with Kristia and the Kali Ensemble, performed during the Spring Festival 2023 at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague.
The work constructs a sonic space created directly from Kristia’s voice. All the sound is created in the moment of performance, using Kristia’s voice as a departure point for the live processing. This creates a new sonic reality with a clear link to the sound that you hear in the moment. Zooming in on the sound and picking it apart, to reconstruct it in new and surprising ways.
The text in the work is an ancient Apollonian Hymn in old Greek, that was taken through processes of progressive degradation to create variations on the original text. The performer is like an oracle, going through unintelligible variations of text before finally reading their prophecy.
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Voice: Kristia Michael
Live Electronics: Hidde Kramer
Composition & Sound Design: Hidde Kramer
Recording & Live Sound: Gregor Connelly
Mix: Hidde Kramer
RESOUNDING // v1
Version one of my work RESOUNDING - for violin, clarinet and surround electronics - created for the Startup Week 2022 of the Royal Conservatory the Hague. This piece is a shorter version of a work in development for another project. The subject of the work is the relationship between acoustic instruments, their recorded counterparts, and the different manipulations and filters that happen both digitally and in the physical space to the sound.
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Violin - Marjolein Spruit
Clarinet - Mia Kogelman
Electronics - Hidde Kramer
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Live Sound & Recording:
Marko Uzunovski, Siamak Anvari & Simone Sacchi
LADY OF SILENCES
She is present in many forms, yet invisible for the eye, she is the Lady of Silences.
A song, based on a fragment of 'Ash Wednesday' by T.S. Elliot, about:
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being in
loving
and letting go of
the garden of life.
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Recorded vocals - Sterre Decru
Spatialisation & production of vocals - Hidde Kramer
Violin - Ruth Mareen
Accordeon - Kaat Vanhaverbeke
Percussion - Baue Kunstman
Photography: Amba Klapwijk
INDRUK / SOLETUDE
When COVID-19 started, I was working on a project for a clarinet trio, formed by Femke van den Bergh & Ruth Mareen, to write a part of a suite, based on l'Histoire du Soldat by Stravinsky.
The concert in May 2020 was canceled, but after the summer, when Femke commissioned me for another piece, we decided to bring that piece and the former program together in a one-time livestream concert, at Studio LOOS. We arranged all production and technical work ourselves, with the assistance of Studio LOOS, and the camera work and visuals of Luca Tornato Serafini.
I did sound engineering and recording during the concert.
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In this concert, two of my pieces were premiered:
- Indruk (Clarinet trio) - also at 24:30 in the video below
- Solétude (Bass Clarinet Solo) - also at 59:06 in the video
Full performance:
PASSAGE
Miniature work exploring two sound worlds, where clouds of contrasting colour pass through each other and interact. This piece uses multitrack recording technique of a multiple of the same instruments. Listen on headphones or earbuds for the best possible spatial experience.
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Bass Clarinet - Femke van den Bergh
Violin - Ruth Mareen
THE VOICES INSIDE
A work written for Tuba, (bad) internet connection, and remote electronic processing.
During Covid times I was involved in organising the 'Spring Festival Online', a student organised online alternative for the cancelled festival of the Royal Conservatory the Hague.
For that festival I wrote this work to interact with the characteristics of the internet sound and latency. This work was performed live via the internet.
The signal of the Tuba was sent to to the Hague from Vienna, and subsequently processed by me in The Hague.
The original and processed signal were mixed live and sent out over the livestream, the electronics creating a spectral aura for the Tuba sound that the player can interact with.
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Tuba - Harry Golden
Live electronics - Hidde Kramer
VALSE LENTE/FALSE SPRING
False Spring is a song set to the poem of the same name by Jan Wolkers.
In the piece the relationship between spring and winter is explored.
The brief moment they might coexist, when spring shows her first signs of life,
and laments her inability to coexist with winter.
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Voice - Sterre Decru
Violin - Ruth Mareen
(text publisher: Bezige Bij)
JÄGER
Klethoven 1974, detectives Bert and Frank are on a mission to hand the mysterious man in their trunk over to the German border police on time. // For the shortfilm Jäger by Julian Verkerk, I wrote a score influenced by police-film soundtracks and Lynch scores using keys, drums, and clouds of ambient guitar and synthesizer. Everything on the score is written, performed, and produced by myself. The EP is available on Bandcamp, including a bonus TV-leader that is featured (very) briefly in the film.
DATES CAMP
Dates Camp is the 48H film made by Team Groenling. Everything in this film was created within 48 hours, in this time I composed and produced the full soundtrack, provided sound design and made the final mix of all the audio.
The film won several awards at the 48H festival Leeuwarden, the award for best film, and furthermore that for best music, best editing, best directing and more.
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"When Luuk, Drewes and Jessica arrive at a campsite for singles, it is not exactly what they expected. Despite a rough start of their holiday, they do seem to like each other. Could this be the start of something beautiful?"
HET VIDEOPALEIS
Het Videopaleis is the second movie by Julian Verkerk (Cinedrama) for which I created the soundtrack. I composed and produced the music for the soundtrack, recorded the on-set sound, and provided some sound design and mixing.
For the soundtrack I loosely drew inspiration from 80's synth-scores and western soundtracks, and created a modern hybrid score in the process.
Using brass instruments, synthesizers and electronic drums as my palette. 'Het Videopaleis' is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music and any other major music platform.
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"It's the middle of the 80's: time has been on hold for a while in the small video rental store owned by Berend van der Heide. Far out, at the border of the Groninger province, he has his own 'Videopaleis' (Videopalace). Since he was elected 'video rental store manager of the year' in 1977 Berend started retreating himself from the swiftly developing outside world more and more, to the dismay of his headquarters"
FRYSLAN DOK // 50 JAAR LAUWERSMEER
'50 jaar Lauwersmeer' is a documentary made by Thom Verheul, for the 'Omrop Fryslan'.
For the movie I composed 2 tracks for piano and violin,
with several variations to be used as title music and as underscore.
The documentary was shown in two parts on 'NPO2' and on 'Omrop Fryslan' around may 2019.
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-note: The electronic music in the movie is not from my hand-
DE BOHEMEN
De Bohemen is a short movie by Julian Verkerk, for which I composed and produced the music together with Bart Bruinsma. The movie is set in the 70's, following a young writer who is working on his next book, when he suddenly finds a adolescent boy, unconscious on the sidewalk. He takes the boy in and a complicated relationship ensues. To match the atmosphere of the movie, we decided to write for a saxophone quartet, clarinet, flute, rhodes and some drums. The whole score is rooted in 60's/70's jazz, though freely interpreted to create a unique sound for the movie. For the finale of the movie, we wrote and produced a complete 70's motown-style song; 'Ready When You Are'. The soundtrack album is available at Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and many other platforms.
