BULLET « drewschnurr.com

Drew Schnurr is a composer, sound artist, and performer from Los Angeles whose work blurs traditional lines in music, media, and sound.

As a composer for media, Drew has produced music and sonic branding for numerous world brands and media conglomerates. He is also an active concert composer and sound artist with a diverse range of international commissions and exhibits.

Revered by his peers, industry professionals, and critics, his work has been called both “rare” and “remarkable.”

“This composer bends and stretches rules within his own aesthetic, weaving his musical ideas in harmonious waves that threaten to drown, yet gently tumble the listener forward with intrigue and anticipation.” -Adam Rosenthal review for Persee: Orchestrated Perception

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Hyperventilations

for Piano with Four Hands [cat. sc26]

Hyperventilations of a Fire Dragon harnesses music from my early career as a performer in latin bands, jazz ensembles, funk bands, and rock and metal bands. The underlying fervency of these influences is felt throughout the work, leveraged by the power and agility of the piano, driving the performance often to the edge of playability. This piece initiates a compositional renaissance, a drilling down into the musical cores of “fire” that constitute the music of my youth. It comes from the gut—quite literally, was breathed into life. The melodic and rhythmic motives are all derived from vocal inflections (and hyperventilations) improvised, recorded, transcribed and re-composed by the composer.

DREW SCHNURR (2015)

Premiered by Vicki Ray and Aaron Kallay — Hear Now Festival, Los Angeles, May 2015.
Video performance by pianists Kookhee Hong and Minji Noh.

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watch HYPERVENTILATIONS

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BULLET

07/19/06

Here I am traveling at 300 meters per second. I’ll be home soon. On the way I’ll damage someone or something, and most certainly mangle myself in the process. But I can’t help it. I’m just a bullet.

She holds the gun loosely in her grip. She doesn’t understand fully the power she holds. She feels like she is holding a toy. It excites her. She likes the feeling of the molded plastic and forged steel in her hand. She doesn’t think of me. She doesn’t have real desire for destruction, just a craving for the complete. Holding a gun will do for now, but she wonders for how long.

She thinks, “What if I squeeze…just this once?” At the thought, she feels blood rush flowing to her shoulders and stomach. Finally, a moment she can feel. It is more than reason can bear. She is dizzy now, released from emptiness and fear. She becomes time. “Just this once…”

She hears no sound. She only feels the air disappear. A sharp pain shoots through her arm. The air returns, a crushing wave. As she reels backwards fullness returns to fear, this time wed to regret. The gun feels different in her hand now.

So, here I am traveling at 300 meters per second. I’ll be home soon. On the way I’ll damage someone or something, and most certainly mangle myself in the process. But I can’t help it. I’m just a bullet.

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