A Midsummer’s Night Dream
Penn State School of Theatre’s Production of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”
Music
Role:
Composer, Original music for “Fairy Lullaby” and “Bottom’s Song” (Lyrics provided by William Shakespeare)
Speaker Twitching recordings used in sound design of show
Score: Full Score
Full Performance from Tech Dress Rehearsal before Opening Night
“Fairy Lullaby”
Titania asks her attending fairies to sing her a lullaby to go to sleep. The music for the lullaby consists of five soprano singers along with accompaniment.
During the performance, the accompaniment parts were rendered through Logic Pro X and also includes a speaker twitching notated by the sound wave in the bottom part. To create this effect, speaker heads were attached to a battery with two lead cables making up the complete circuit. Attached to the lead cables are two needles, which when placed together above the speaker, completes the circuit and creates a screeching/twitching noise as the speaker head moves up and down.
Performance Taken from Dress Rehearsal before Opening Night
Begins at 0:34
PASIC 2022 Virtual Session
Adapted for FrankenVibes
“Bottom’s Song”
While rehearsing their play for the Duke and Duchess’s nuptials, the fairies intervene and turn own of the play masters, Bottom, into a transformation of a human with a donkey head. Not understanding why his fellow play masters run away in fear, Bottom sings a song in protest.
This song is built in with a simple modal melody and rhythm, allowing the actor to sing as off-key and donkey-like as they desire.