“Unremixed,” a composition by Mizzou’s Stefan Freund, is featured in a new music video from Alarm Will Sound.

Freund, who is professor of composition at Mizzou and the artistic director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative, also is a co-founder of and cellist for Alarm Will Sound, the new music group who since 2010 has served as resident ensemble for the Mizzou International Composers Festival. There’s another local connection, too, as the video was shot at Spectrum Studios in Columbia.

You can see the complete music video for “Unremixed” in the embedded window below, followed by the production notes from Alarm Will Sound.

“Unremixed” was written for Alarm Will Sound’s debut at the Lincoln Center Festival in 2005. The work was created as a finale for the concert, which was the complete presentation of “Acoustica,” Alarm Will Sound’s album of arrangements of Aphex Twin’s electronica. The work integrates several ideas from Aphex Twin’s music as well as instrumental techniques used in Acoustica arrangements to imitate electronic sounds.

“Unremixed” is divided into four sections. The first features the descent from “Gwely Mernans” presented in various ratios against a consistent quarter note pulse divided into sixteenths. A lick similar to the pentatonic figures found in “Cliffs” emerges, played in different meters against the pulse.

A bombastic percussion solo leads to the second section, which places a firm 5/4 pulse against a tune formed from two phrases of 10/16 that change their division of the meter. Though not directly taken from the music of Aphex Twin, the tune is reminiscent of many modal funky grooves found in electronic dance music. Eventually it is placed against the descent from the previous section.

The third section imitates the industrial sound of electronica. The tune from “Meltphace 6” emerges over a 7/8 groove whose working title was “Sick Machine.” Various layers are added to the texture to grow towards a giant climax.

The final section is a simple dance party featuring techno drum tracks that grow increasingly complex and a sped up presentation of the mixed meter dance tune from the second section. The performers are encouraged to get a little rowdy towards the end.

Composed by Stefan Freund
Performed by Alarm Will Sound
Shot by Four/Ten Media

Alarm Will Sound:
Erin Lesser, flute
Christa Robinson, oboe
Bill Kalinkos, clarinet and saxophone
Elisabeth Stimpert, clarinet
Michael Harley, bassoon
Matt Marks, horn
Tim Leopold, trumpet
Michael Clayville, trombone
Chris Thompson, percussion
Matt Smallcomb, percussion
John Orfe, piano
Courtney Orlando, violin
Caleb Burhans, violin
Stefan Freund, cello
Miles Brown, bass
Alan Pierson, conductor and Artistic Director

Daniel Neumann, Audio Engineer
Gavin Chuck, Managing Director
Nigel Maister, Theatrical Director
Jason Varvaro, Production Manager
Peter Ferry, Production Assistant
Chihiro Shibayama, Librarian
Tracy Mendez, Development Manager

Special thanks to these musicians for their contribution to the video:
Andrew Nogal (oboe), Megan Arns (percussion), Ben Russell (violin), Karin Brown (viola)

Special thanks to these musicians who performed on the recording:
Jason Price (trumpet), Nadia Sirota (viola), Chihiro Shibayama (percussion), Juilia Gaines (percussion)

Filmed at Spectrum Studios during an Alarm Will Sound residency at the University of Missouri sponsored by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. Funding for the video shoot came from the MU Research Council.