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Todd Barton

Barton, Todd
Shakuhachi
bartonmusic@mac.com

After four decades of exploration Todd Barton is still delving deeply into the ever-expanding frontiers of musical expression: from his DNA derived Genome Music to his innovative scores for plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; from performances of Zen Shakuhachi Meditation Music to avant-garde music for electronic synthesizers and computers; from performing with luminaries of jazz and poetry to lecturing on music and composition from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century.

Todd Barton is the Resident Composer and Music Director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is also the Director of Composition Studies for the Music Department at Southern Oregon University.

His compositions have been performed by the KRONOS Quartet, Oregon Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Southern Oregon Repertory Singers, the Shasta Taiko, and the Rogue Valley Symphony to name a few.

Barton has received numerous awards for his theater music including the ASCAP Award for Popular Music, Dramalogue Critics Award, and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award.

His music has been heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, Westcoast Live, and the Curve of Wonder.

Teachers

Albums


Lao Tzu-tao Te Ching With Ursula K Le Guin

Todd backs up renown author Ursula Le Guin in her own rendition of this seminal work.


Mountain Ghost Breathing

A two song cassette of pieces inspired by the paintings of Barton's friend Bob Kostka, whose work also graces the cover. Side A is "Mountain Ghost Breathing," which is made up of altered digital samples of shakuhachi sounds—pure tones, multiphonics, "flutter tonguing,"—you name it—creating sounds that are ultimately very un-flute like. At one point an ominous low drone, reminiscent of something being bowed, pours in and then out while whispy bursts like escaping steam punctuate the upper levels. It's similar to the way Barton describes Kostka's paintings in the notes as living in that "fleeting membrane between the Void and Form." On the second side, he shows off his diverse shakuhachi techniques with stylized bursts on a piece called "Emerging," a slowish, sparse improv with added echo and some synthesized wind sounds over a "live recording of 4 to 7 foot metal wind chimes in a wind storm," albeit a fairly gentle wind storm. (Erik Bluhm, 2019)

Ro Ro

Works for 2.7 Jinashi flute

Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi Ma


T'ai Chi Shakuhachi

Shakuhachi improvisations recorded while observing the movement and forms of the martial art T'ai Chi Chuan.

Tracks Recorded

Pieces KanjiLengthAlbumInstrument
Akebono 04'09 Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi
Bamboobell Ro Shakuhachi
Choshi (Don't know which version) 調子 03'43 Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi
Chôshi (Yamato) 調子 (大和) 02'40 Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi
Hi Fu Mi no Shirabe (Don't know which version) 一二三の調 03'45 Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi
Homage Ro Shakuhachi
Improv Ro Shakuhachi
Improvisation 04'19 Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi
Kyorei (Don't know which version) 虚鈴 09'31 Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi
Memori Ro Shakuhachi
Moonlit Castle 02'19 Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi
Mountain Ghost Ro Shakuhachi
Mountain Ghost 02'30 Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi
Pulse Ro Shakuhachi
Ro Ro Shakuhachi
Still Ro Shakuhachi
Tamuke 手向 04'58 Shakuhachi Ma Shakuhachi