Chapter 1: Alleys Of Your Mind

Copyright by
Alex Herschel Kotch
2013

Alleys Of Your Mind (2012)

Alex Kotch
Duration: approximately 28:30

Instrumentation
Soprano
Flute/piccolo
Bb Clarinet
Alto Saxophone/Tenor Saxophone
Bassoon
French Horn
Trumpet
Bass Trombone
Laptop DJ

Performance Instructions
All instruments should be amplified, with a sound engineer adjusting levels as
needed during performance. A conductor is recommended. If using conductor, he/she
should use a click track. Without conductor, all performers except Laptop DJ should use
click tracks.
The piece is fundamentally a work of electronic dance music and is designed to be
performed at a dance or rock club. Reverberant spaces will not work sonically, and
formal spaces are not recommended due to the dance and popular nature of the music.
Because of the prominent bass and percussion in the electronics, a dance club-worthy
sound system is necessary for the desired effect.
The electronic component is notated in detail in four staves: two staves of
synthesizer-based sound (Synth), vocal samples (Vox), and percussion (Electr.).
The electronic percussion notation follows standard drum set notation.

Composers Note
Alleys Of Your Mind combines styles from electronic dance music genres such as
techno, bass, and dubstep with classical instrumentation. Movements 2 and 3 include
recordings I made in the Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit at Duke Hospital while
recovering from brain surgery in October 2010. The composition represents not only my
interest in the musical opportunities and social benefits of combining the worlds of club
and classical music, but also my difficult yet transformative recovery from brain trauma.
Alleys Of Your Mind shares its title as one of the first ever techno tracks, written
by Cybotron (Juan Atkins and Richard Davis) in 1981. This title is quite apt for my
composition and its themes, but it is also a tribute to Atkins and to Detroit techno, a major
indirect influence on my work.

Performance History
Alleys Of Your Mind was first performed at the Duke Coffeehouse on April 6,
2012 under the direction of Verena-Msenbichler-Bryant, with Alex Kotch, DJ. The core
of the group consisted of the Wet Ink Ensemble, in residence during 2011-2012 under the
auspices of a Visiting Artists Grant to the Department of Music through the Duke
University Council for the Arts. The concert was sponsored by the Duke University
Department of Music.
A solo DJ set from Alex Kotch directly preceded Alleys Of Your Mind and segued
into a transition in which the live instruments entered, beginning Movement 1. A video
archive is available at http://youtu.be/4A0Cmlg54Dw. Subsequent performances for
reduced instrumental forces have been produced.
3

Biography
Alex Kotch is a composer, producer, performer on laptop, clarinet and saxophone,
and writer. An active performer of original electronic dance music and instrumentalEDM, he has written acoustic and electroacoustic chamber music for the concert hall,
dance, and theater. From 2012-2013, he lived in Berlin, Germany with funding from a
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Research Grant and a Duke University
International Research Travel Fellowship, researching and writing Chapter 2 of this
dissertation.

284