When sax and computer collide

Read the critics’ reviews of Matthew Burtner’s latest CD release and you may be struck by the superlatives and expressions of admiration used to describe his work: “virtuosic,” “austere beauty,” “a unique and powerful imagination,” “fascinating and brilliantly composed.” Listen to the CD and you might add a few of your own: mesmerizing, enchanting, and perhaps most importantly, completely original — because the sound you hear is from no ordinary instrument.

“Metasaxophone Colossus” is Burtner’s first attempt to introduce to the contemporary music scene an instrument of his own creation, the metasaxophone.The title, a tribute to Sonny Rollins’ 1956 recording, “Saxaphone Colossus,” reflects Burtner’s appreciation of Rollins’ groundbreaking sound as one of America’s best-known jazz saxophonists. But that’s where the comparisons end.

“The title itself says this is another step in saxophone music,” said Burtner, an assistant professor in the McIntire Department of Music. The metasax (meta means beyond) is a tenor sax that has been married to a computer to create sounds not possible on a purely acoustical instrument.

For those who actually understand the PCs sitting on their desks, Burtner explains it this way: “The metasax outputs its data into a MIDI interface. That goes into the computer, you program the system to accept data from the metasax, and that’s where a lot of the composition comes into play. The sax has a computer on it, but its only job is to convert the performer’s data into the MIDI control messages. It’s not designed to make any sounds on its own.”

If all this seems a little mind-bending, then just listen to the CD. Burtner’s composition, “S-Morph-S,” described as a “singing bowl soprano saxophone hybrid computer instrument,” was inspired by a Tibetan prayer bowl. It’s a deeply meditative, ethereal piece; you might not understand how it’s produced, but you’ll appreciate how it moves you.

Burtner’s reasons for bringing about this union between a saxophone and a computer make sense considering the history of saxophone. “Adolph Sax, who invented the instrument in 1842, conceived of it as a synthesis of the other orchestral instruments,” Burtner said. “He wanted an instrument that had the dexterity of the strings, the colors and changibility of the woodwinds, and the loudness and power of the brass. The sax, by its very nature, lends itself to this kind of adaptation.”

Burtner’s innovative and creative approach to composition was encouraged throughout his education, which included studies in philosophy at St. John’s College, a BFA from Tulane University, a master’s in music from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins and a doctorate from Stanford. At Stanford, he worked in the Center for Computer Research and Music Acoustics.

He had mentors all along the way to help him. “I was lucky,” he said. “That experience affected me as a teacher more than anything else. I want to be certain that I’m that sort of teacher, a mentor who’s helping students have a good experience so that they leave here loving what they’re doing.” In his three years with the department, and while serving as the associate director of the Virginia Center for Computer Music founded by Judith Shatin in 1987, the number of students wanting to take computer music classes or his interactive media course has increased dramatically. “I put up a flyer for the collaborative media course, thinking five or six undergrads might be interested, and 30 showed up,” he said.

Given the interest in digital music at U.Va., it should come as no surprise that Shatin also has a new album. “Dreamtigers” features her compositions performed by the Da Capo Chamber Players with guest soprano Lucy Shelton and guitarist William Zito. Both Burtner’s and Shatin’s CDs have been released on the Innova label (www.innova.mu). “The coincidence of these albums coming out of the forward-looking Innova label at the same time is unprecedented,” Burtner said. “U.Va. is becoming a center for American experimental classical music.”