Blog 5: Vox Arcana

First of all, they were fantastic! I did enjoy their performances a lot and though there were some things that were difficult for me to accept as a self described 'traditional listener' there were still great moments during which I was completely enthralled by the music. I didn't quite understand how they were going to be able to 'improvise' when using a score, but for some reason they made it work. It seemed so precisely timed, but yet so effortless all at once. They did a lot of exploring and the different ways they used their instruments as well as the tools they used to enhance the sounds that they created. I thought the drums were the most peculiar things to pay attention to since he used different drumsticks, pans, symbols, etc to enhance what noises he made. The cello mixed with all of the electronic enhancements seemed mathematical in a way because to me he looked completely improvised and random, but obviously there was some direction to what he was doing. They also managed to mix some 'classical' sounds to more avant-garde mixes. The culmination of all of these things made for a very neat effect.