Layering is present throughout the whole work of Autohoodening: The Rise of Captain Swing. Musically, there was first a practical reason behind it. The piece was collectively created during the COVID-19 lockdowns in late 2020 and early 2021[15]. The interdisciplinary collaborative creative process for this piece needed to happen online. We used techniques of Zoom-theatre such as the use of effects in the background of the videocall, the connection of external musical software through virtual audio inputs, or the strategic manipulation of the layout of the videoconference[16]. In order to embrace the unavoidable latency (or sound delay) in the video calls during rehearsals[17], I decided to design the composition of the music as a series of independent blocks of material stacked in layers that would not necessarily need to be synchronised to be effective. This allowed us to create the first version of this work in the form of a Zoom-theatre extended trailer for the project[18].
In this first creative cycle[19] we found this technique effective to present simultaneously the hoodening folk traditions, the automated world of Amazon, and the dramatic action of the play, deciding to use it in the final development of the work.
Layering is therefore a technique that I used to organise all the blocks of material created for this piece. On a musical macro-structural level, we have three main interconnected layers: the chorus of pickers and packers, who showcase the relentlessness associated with Amazon[20] by repeating the music material contained in boxes (how appropriate) in the score; the main characters, who deliver the spoken text and move forward the musical discourse with their operatic interventions and lead the game of appropriation and reappropriation of music material, as well as the harmonic shifts (as seen in 3.1.2.1 Autohoodening: The Rise of Captain Swing); and the folk band, which supports the action by establishing the melodic themes associated with an idea and its variations. On an interdisciplinary level, we can use other layers, such as performativity[21] or the engagement with the space[22] to communicate on different compositional levels other ideas related to the subject matter of the piece.
Example #4
Example of layering. The chorus sings material derived from the Amazon tune in a repetition box. Over this, Captain Swing sings freely a melodic line based on the reel tune. The band plays the “revolted” Amazon tune. The three layers are connected harmonically and thematically.