Meet the Composers' Academy: Nneka Cummins

I decided early on in the process that 3 Planets would feature sampled sounds that would be integrated within the ensemble.

This is an extract of the sampler which I built before I had made significant progress on the instrumental writing. I grouped the pitches in approximate ascending order so that they would be easier for a performer to navigate. I used one set of samples for all three movements so that there was a degree of consistency between them but I preserved more distinctive sounds for particular movements, to help distinguish between each sonic world. 

The consequence of using a sampler alongside extensive extended instrumental techniques was that it was challenging to fully know the complexity of the sound combinations that I was creating during the writing process.

I was fortunate in that the Philharmonia Composers' Academy gave me the opportunity to test different instrumental techniques so I could hear their quality, dynamics, and could check their reliability. Nevertheless, I spent considerable time creating mock-ups to map against the orchestral part so that I had better visibility of certain aspects of the sonic landscape.

For the majority of the writing stage however, I worked with scoring software that couldn’t represent my underlying writing. Compare the Sibelius audio export below with the same section of music from the finished recording:

At the workshop stage, I gained a clearer understanding of the relationships between different elements within the piece. 3 Planets felt underdeveloped for a long time … until suddenly it wasn’t. At times, composing this piece was a personal test of creative faith, but it certainly was a joy and privilege to work with Philharmonia Orchestra to test and perform these ideas.

Philharmonia Composers' Academy Volume 6 will be released on 27 October. Pre-save on streaming platforms here.

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