The Kronos Quartet is featured in a 3-D point-capture video performing and discussing a piece from the Kronos Explorer Series box set on The New York Times.
Earlier this year in a downtown Manhattan studio, members David Harrington, John Sherba, Hank Dutt and Sunny Yang joined in for the video, which explains how a quartet communicates.
To craft the project, the space was filled with laptops, video cameras, microphones and sensors that turned their movements into data rendered as "dot clouds." The "dots," or points, are designed to appear and disappear in relation to the participation of the individuals in the music.
"When four people are doing very complex rhythms, we talk about a heartbeat right in the center of the group, and I do think of that image, too," said Sherba.
The Kronos gang played and discussed their way through "Canção Verdes Anos" by Carlos Paredes and arranged by Osvaldo Golijov and “Aheym” by Bryce Dessner.
"Virtually any composer that we've encountered has said that the string quartet is the most personal and expressive medium that they know of," said David Harrington, founder and director of Kronos.
When discussing "Aheym," the musicians dug into how quartets work, including cueing, body language and the point of establishing rhythms. "Aheym" makes the perfect starting point for the conversation, as it is a complicated piece of 11 short sections marked A through K.
The 3-D point-capture effect comes courtesy of OpenShades members Brandyn White, Andrew Miller and Scott Greenwald.
Watch for the Kronos Quartet performing with Laurie Anderson in "Landfall" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music through Sept. 27.
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