/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

SUMMONING is the latest work by experimental double bassist and composer Jacques Emery.

Designed as “a communal deep listening ritual”, the piece unfolds over 90 minutes, gently coaxing the listener’s ear to deeper and deeper states of listening until they reach a microscopic level of perception. The journey is aided by subtle yet immersive lighting design by digital artist Erin Nortje.

Reaching into the cavernous depths of his beloved double bass, SUMMONING emerged from Emery’s long-held fascination with “difference tones”, a phenomenon where a shimmering, pulsing oscillation emerges as the result of two tones with similar frequencies:

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 (𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴), 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴 (𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴) 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺…𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘖𝘕𝘐𝘕𝘎, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴.”

Running the bass through an amplifier in the resonant acoustic of the Annandale Creative Arts Centre's Dance Hall exaggerates this 'beating' effect, creating a deep, warm chasm of sub-bass tones and shimmering overtones. At times the sound recalls an organ, bagpipes, or modular synth rack more than the double bass.

SUMMONING follows in the footsteps of minimalist composers such as Pauline Oliveros, La Monte Young, Phill Niblock, Ellen Fullman, Yoshi Wada, and Ellen Arkbro, exploring the mind-altering potential of music focused on long sustained tones, resonance, overtones, and difference tones.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙩 6:15𝙥𝙢 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴.
𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴.
𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th of September.
Tickets $22: https://events.humanitix.com/summoning

6pm: Doors
6:15pm: Lecture/workshop
6:45pm: Doors
7:30: SUMMONING
Music finishes at approx. 9pm

Selection of teas served on arrival.

Audience members are encouraged to make themselves comfortable for maximal enjoyment of this immersive performance. You’re welcome to sit on a folding chair or grab a cushion (provided) and sit or lie on the floor.

Accessibility information:

Unfortunately this event is not wheelchair accessible due to the layout of the venue.
The entry to the dance hall has a small set of stairs.

Please note the performance has coloured lighting and haze.