A programme of 21st century and contemporary solo works at this year's New Music Dublin festival culminates in composer Caimin Gilmore's BlackGate - Caimin discusses the genesis of BlackGate below.
Written for double bass, cello, harp and Yamaha DX-7 keyboard, BlackGate had its premiere at Kilkenny Arts Festival in August 2024 and now comes to Dublin for the first time - it's a cross-genre piece that reflects Gilmore’s work as a bassist and arranger across multiple styles, from contemporary music to pop, classical and folk.
What inspired you to create BlackGate? What does the title refer to?
I was interested in lesser composed for instrument groupings (initially, I started writing the work for lever harp, cello and Juno 60) and to write a piece that lived somewhere - harmonically and structurally - between indie/minimalist music; using extended string techniques to create a spectral sound world. It naturally became a reflection of the different types of music I was performing and collaborating on at the time of writing. I was playing and jumping across a broad range of styles - contemporary music, folk/Irish traditional music, playing in indie groups & symphonic repertoire with orchestras. I felt that the playing techniques I was using across these genres were transferable, and the diffuse sonic worlds were conducive with each other – they could live together if it was a reflection of how I approached them, or maybe how I understood them. It made sense and felt most natural to me to write something with this cross pollination of genres in mind as I could just be myself – hopefully that comes across in the piece.
BlackGate was commissioned by the BlackGate Cultural Centre in Galway – hence the name. Sorry nothing poetic! Although, as it’s instrumental music, it does seem to be a handy physical metaphor to attach to the sound for some of its initial listeners. Visual artist Neva Elliot who wrote the liner notes for the album says "At first, the album’s title may seem a straightforward nod to its commission. However there is another reading contained within what we hear. The BlackGate has revealed itself as a sonic presence….a grating monolith of sound… It is an ominous motif that resonates throughout".
You have Kate Ellis on cello, Lavinia Meijer on harp and Cormac Curran on DX-7: why these musicians, and how did the collaboration with them work?
Myself and Kate have been playing together for a number of years in various groups, mostly in Crash Ensemble. I’ve learned so much from her about string playing and music generally – she has been a great friend and informal teacher to me for years. At the time of writing, we were doing some duo playing together and I had just commissioned some work for solo double bass which more broadly opened up the instrument's large expressive range using natural harmonics. I was exploring this a lot in the duo and other bands I was playing with at the time.
There was no other person I could think more fitting to try write for and to collaborate with. During the recording, she suggested we cut the first movement I wrote and start a fresh one, as I had more of grasp on the instrumentation and sound world. What I wrote after is now my favourite movement in the work. She has a way of seeing the larger picture that’s invaluable.
The piece was originally written for a small lever or Irish harp. For a host of reasons, it made more sense to perform it on concert harp. I was introduced to Lavinia through the conductor André de Ridder. I went to Amsterdam to record with her, and the night before we met I saw a number of very large posters of her solo gigs in the Concertgebouw advertised outside. She’s a bit of a national treasure in the Netherlands, an outrageous musician and I’m lucky to have her playing the work.
I used to go underage drinking with my older sister and see Cormac’s bands play when I was a teenager. I adored all the Villagers albums he played on. I ended up playing with him in Lisa Hannigan’s band a few years later and we became great friends, went to Cuba and smoked cigars, etc. He’s the only man I know that can re produce the DX7 parts live. He’s a great educator and amazing pianist who has also worked with the likes of John Grant and Hozier.
"New Music Dublin feels like a festival in its original form - a small and passionate community coming together to perform, listen, exchange ideas and socialise – nothing feels contrived."
The DX-7 was one of the great workhorse synthesisers of 1980s synth pop (according to Wikipedia, it was used in 40% of the number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1986…). It’s lovely to see it back in use but … why? And are you using the classic preset sounds or undertaking the (legendarily) difficult task of programming your own?
I didn’t know that, and I’m not surprised! It’s an outrageously beautiful instrument which as you said has been strangely underused in the last few decades, considering how versatile it is.
It took forever and yes, I made my own presets. I had just done some private lessons on synthesis with Neil O’Connor (University of Limerick/Somadrone) before writing the piece, so had a very basic overview and understanding of what the synth did.
Not to get too deep into it - there’s hundreds of effects that you can change the sound of each of the 6 oscillators or sine wave operators with, and you can affect how the oscillators interact with each other through 32 algorithims, which rearrange the operators. The synth has global parameters that affect that, so there’s unlimited variations of sound and ways to express yourself. I think that was my attraction to it, also how similar manipulating the sound on the synth is to playing an acoustic instrument – manipulating the sound of the oscillators felt very similar to what I do with my bowing hand to change sound. I used a digital version of the synth, which is a different process to using the physical keyboard and easier in certain ways as you don’t have to automate manually – you can just draw a line into recording software and the synth follows it. I also didn’t have to play it which takes the physical complications out of it as I’m not a pianist.
The programme also includes the world premiere of Ann Cleare’s Gravity Dreams. How does this piece work alongside BlackGate in the programme?
Gravity Dreams is very different to BlackGate. But that’s good! And again it is a reflection of the broad array of music that influenced BlackGate – particularly the noise based and spectral moments in the work. As I mentioned, working with Kate as a duo at the time had a huge influence on the piece, and we commissioned Ann to write this work. For NMD and its premiere at Kilkenny Arts last year, I tried to present a programme that showed the constituent parts of the engine by showcasing the other collaborators involved – solo works for cello & harp - and a sense of how the music came about, and what influenced it, before putting the engine back together for BlackGate.
For those attending the performance, there’s an exclusive opportunity to purchase a limited-edition vinyl of BlackGate. In the age of on-demand digital streaming, what does a physical release mean to you?
I’m a CD baby so the physical release has and always will be the most important way to disseminate a piece of recorded music for me. I obviously stream plenty of music, but mostly as a means of deciding what vinyl I want to buy. It’s better for all the reasons mentioned so often - having the artwork in your hand, more direct support for the artist and independent labels, etc. Having to actually physically interact with vinyl forces (me at least) to be more engaged and focused while listening. It’s nice to know people will hear the piece at its best and as it’s intended to sound before it’s available digitally.
Dublin audiophile label Ten Spot Records, ran by all round champ Dek Hynes, were meticulous in the production of the vinyl. The design is based on the old Blue Note releases, lithographically printed, hand assembled by a book binder and numbered. The cutting process was equally meticulous. We went to Air Studios in London town to cut a half-speed master with Barry 'Bazza’ Grint who turned out to be a bit of a mastering legend (he’s worked on Beach Boys and Beatles records!) and used Optimal in Germany for the vinyl production. The art work, called Omphalos, is a painting by painter John Noel Smith. There are liner notes from artist Neva Elliot, my picture was taken by incredible pianist David Six while we were on tour and there’s handwritten extracts of the work printed inside. It took a village and it’s a beautiful object within itself, thanks to Dek. You can’t get that with streaming.
The fidelity and audio quality of vinyl obviously far surpasses what you’re getting from ultra-compressed audio from streaming sites. I notice a more three-dimensional sound when listening to any album recorded specifically for vinyl. I recently listened to a first cut of Blue Train by John Coltrane and it feels like you can reach behind his saxophone when you’re listening to it. It’s very much like being in the room. In some ways, it feels like we’ve gone backwards in terms of how we record music when you listen to printings like that from the late 50’s.
Anecdotally, I see a small movement away (from musicians at least) from streaming which is part of a general broad wariness of large tech companies, so I think quality physical releases will stay relevant, even if they seem niche in the overall picture. If the work, artwork and packaging are done to the highest standards you can access, I really think it makes it stand out from the 100,000k singles that are released online all over the world everyday – whether or not you like the music.
Why did you want to bring BlackGate to NMD?
NMD is my joint-favourite Irish festival! I love how the concert hall is taken over by lovely freaky audiophile music lovers for 4 days. It feels like a festival in its original form - a small and passionate community coming together to perform, listen, exchange ideas and socialise – nothing feels contrived. The music is always beautiful and adventurous. I think I have performed at all iterations of NMD since its inception and through those contributions I have been exposed to a lot of amazing music and learned a huge amount about composition – in that sense it feels like the most natural space to put the music into, as BlackGate is a reflection of those experiences.
New Music Dublin presents BlackGate and other works at The Studio at NCH on Thursday 3rd April at 6pm - find out more here.
