LEAH KARDOS

Peter Sant's Cadence


I just posted a clip from Peter Sant's latest video art piece, "Cadence" on the media page of this site (for the full length version - check out
http://www.petersant.com ). Despite my computer-related woes of late, I really enjoyed working on this project - camped out on the dining table with my MIDI keyboards and controllers strewn around the kitchen.

I originally got the job by responding to a post on
Composition Today (truly one of the ugliest arts-related sites ever to exist on the interwebs) - the artist was looking for a keyboardist/composer, and I took the bait. He responded in kind with a list of musical limitations and rules by which I needed to adhere. Also, I was to only receive the foley track, and not the footage, to score to. Here were some of the rules:

  • begin at precisely 2min 30 secs
  • contain a 'light' and discretely 'anticipatory' motif
  • never be 'dark' or 'suspenseful'
  • contain the following, in order of their relative quantity:
    • organ
    • synthesiser
    • piano
    • plus an optional extra (but not percussive)
  • not occupy more than 70% of the allocated time
  • operate at a tempo slower than a clock

There was a lot of back and forth - a few changes, a few edits. It was refreshing to work in this way, separate and remote from the visual element yet very close to it at the same time. Here's an example from the final score - the first occurrence of the main theme, beginning at precisely 2min 30secs...


Cadence [excerpt] by leahkardos