Parallelia by Julian Broadhurst MetalPm

Parellelia - Metal Percussion music, MPm 20 - my 131st Album. A mechanical realisation and a live performance on a church Ironwork.

‘Automation for mechanical Clock - Rh 541’- Imagined mechanical clocks have along history in my work - beginning in my Phase music Genre or Tranche of tape manipulation, Phm, then ‘Crossing currents’ as I say, to my Metal Percussion Tranche or Genre, MPm - here now in Its 20th dedicated album. Percussion, that is, on anything other than Drums - to chant the mantra once again. This piece is nominally Mechanical Clock music 6.

'Performance on an English Ironwork - Rh 575' - couples here in complete contrast as a live recording of my percussion on the English Iron work of a Parish church. My last work in the MPm Genre ? A 16-minute impromptu performance on a medieval Ironwork. I think I have said in this, finally, almost everything I could say in this form - anything more now would just be repeating myself - but Ahh - such fun.


Mechanical Clock music 1 - 6

This series goes right back through my work - with the near hour long pairing Mechanical Clock music nos. 1 and 2 on the Album Phm 3 away back at the start of my work. Indeed to my 13th album - the third of three volumes of Collected Phase music studies. I return to the notion of Mechanical Clocks along time later with the Album Phm 7 - Mechanical Clock music 3 - 5 - my 68th album - this time for Bell harmonics in tape montage. Finally here, on my 131st album Parellelia with this ‘Automation for Mechanical Clock’.

[] Album Phm 3 - Mechanical Clock music. As with many other projects, in the learning journeys that these Early Phase music studies were - this Mechanical clock music is one of a pair - Rh 10 built as a working Phase Frame, for a Work to be built on, seen now as a work in itself. I find it capable and complete, as a work in itself, giving rise to the notion of a Mechanical Clock. A huge open cased affair whose simple mechanic keeps a most irregular time. It is one of my favourite pieces.

For Mechanical Clock music 2 - Rh 103 - I cut a Phase set, from a recording of my own tubular bells, carefully measuring it onto the existing frame. The result – the clock constantly and irregularly chimes. Hard to keep hold of in the moment but sweet in its effect. Now it has confidence and Elegance. The pair are more than just studies – they are the first landmark in my Phase music genre.

[] Album Phm 7 - my Mechanical Clock music 3 - 5 - my 68th album. Three 20 something minute Spools of Bell montage. A Percussion of bells this time in a sound montage of running tapes - a Phase music, Phm. It is the methodology that ties them together as 1 - 5. From the almost Blacksmithery of 1 and 2, pieces 3 - 5 attempt to found a Change ring each time - and therein lies the music, a Mechanical Clock music.

[] Album MPm 20 Parellelia. An ‘Automation for Mechanical Clock’ - Rh 541’ [together with a live performance on a Church Ironwork]. I say this is nominally ‘Mechanical Clock music 6’ because it ties to the series No. 6 just adds itself to the set - and 6 is a Canonic number for sets.


The Apartment recordings

There is a line of consecutive MPm albums I call ‘The Apartment recordings’ of which this album is the last - recorded in or at the time of and sometimes even ‘with’ my Apartment house - Holly House - a bus ride north west of Derby. Here I spent many happy years - recording a fund of music which I mastered at Isabel, my Studio, still at the old Family house nearby. As technology changed - ‘Isabel’ became ‘wherever I laid my hat’ - until I finally moved ‘back to the old house’, in Allestree, after the death of my Father. That move took me several years to complete. These 7 apartment albums - MPm 14 - 20 document the music from the end of my time at the Holly House apartments, which all happened to fall in my MPm Genre. That is to say - ‘Percussion on anything other than Drums - percussion as a Generality rather than the Speciality of Drums.


[] DCM 125 MPm 14 -- Footfall A & B

[] DCM 126 MPm 15 -- Inv for Steel Casing

[] DCM 127 MPm 16 -- Imp in 4 and 3 Pts

[] DCM 128 MPm 17 -- Six Sns. for Metal P

[] DCM 129 MPm 18 -- Inv for Industrial Unit

[] DCM 130 MPm 19 -- Now is N. t. T. f Dan

[] DCM 131 MPm 20 -- Parellelia []


[] Apartment Album 1 - MPm14 Footfall A & B edit. Is the first of this new music. I had noticed that when using my Apartment block stairwell - I would probe its huge resonance, its railings and steps, with my feet and stick. As time came to leave I recorded myself doing this - timing it as if it were a work each time I had to record this. I made these two works from it.

[] Apartment Album 2 - MPm 15 Inventions for steel casing is a farewell to a friend - The Huge boiler in the old family house and its wonderful casing - where I taught myself to play as a boy - on the dozens of tones it had. I caught these final sessions with it.

[] Apartment Album 3 - MPm 16 Impromptus in Four and Three parts - that is in sets of 4 and 3 parts respectively on the large concrete landing of my apartment block on huge cardboard packages - the natural reverb was beautiful.

[] Apartment Album 4 - MPm 17 Six Sonatas for Metal Percussion - six fast paced, nimble pieces for solo percussionist on a metal object. In this case a metal unit live in my Isabel studio - August 2017. A sonata as a display piece is the reference point for these.

[] Apartment Album 5 - MPm 18 Inventions for industrial Unit. Ten inventions for percussion on the back of an industrial Freezer - it's radiating grills and Body.

[] Apartment Album 6 - MPm 19 - Now is Not the Time for Dancing - Two sets of six inventions for MP - for two people who have been pivotal to me in the music world and great friends both, The Tom Hewitt and the Frances Magdalene Wilson Inventions and also 4 pieces for left hand alone.

[] Apartment Album 7 - MPm 20 Parellelia - Automation for Mechanical Clock, well not quite - there were actually no clocks involved. Coupled with Performance on an English Church Iron work - Rh 575.

Of note here is the ‘Performance Park Pale - Rh 563’ - a performance on a Park’s Metal fencing - to be found on the Album Dm 26 - Double Up ! Next question ‘Well when did you last see it ?’ It Fixed up on the wrong album. These things happen.


The Outer Blue Album Group - MPm Indices

An early reorganization of my music research interests had defined my music into dedicated sets of Albums. This way things of a kin got heard together - as one type of album or another - by Genre - or Tranche as I styled them. In this case Metal Percussion music, MPm, percussion on anything other than Drums. By Convention MPm.

Beginning as a percussionist my first 7 albums are for Drums of various kinds, Drum music or Dm, my first area of research interest or Tranche. I soon realised there was a second area of percussion, as a generality over a specialism - percussion on anything other than Drums, Metal Percussion music, or MPm. The third of five is the Phase music, realised by tape looping and timing, Phm. The fourth, a genre of Electro Acoustic composition, Music for Strings, Electronics and Percussion, or MSEP. The last genre is Electronic music, Em, taking the longest processing detour from an original acoustic source.

Album numbers 96 to the End [that is to my last numbered album] - form my Fifth ‘Group’ - a 5th time division across my Genres, my Outer Blue Group. The End being what it will be, but I have no plans, at the time of writing, in August 2020, to number any further albums, the given End being 142. This all builds on the foundational 'Blue Cherry Group' [where I had introduced my 5 areas of research interest] and the big 'New Horizon Group' - [where I explored to see where these five genres were leading me]. There then seemed to be a ‘band of gold’ across my discography. My Golden Band Group, that mark a particularly successful time for me. The albums that follow that, 76 to the End, are a ‘Blue Horizon’ - after the phrase ‘blue sky research’ - the ‘Blue Horizon Group.’ For convenience, I divided this Huge area into the Inner and the Outer Blue. So my Fourth Group is the Inner Blue Group. Then a Fifth and last Group builds upon that - my outer Blue Horizon - or Outer Blue Group.

There are eleven MPm Albums in the Outer Blue Group MPm 12 to 22. Mostly as a result of a big flowering of MPm work as I was preparing to leave my apartment on Kedleston road to inherite the Family house after the death of my Father. It took two years to actually move, plenty of time for a lot of music. With a couple MPm albums after that - [including my very ‘last’ album - album 142 Quarlium] - all following a fortuitous invitation from the British Library to compile an Edition.

[] Album MPm 12 Hamermusic - an inharmonious Blacksmith - raging in his Metalshop - 'hand in glove' - Hammers in Hand - 'he flails at the surfaces around him' - sparks 'resounding' in the half light. Two 'Pitched battles for rhythm and resolution - beggaring belief in its ferocity. Stand back, buckle up and be swept to an edge of music itself - Almost.

[] Album MPm 13 ‘45’23 - Metal Percussion Solo in 11 parts’ perfection in description - percussion on metal tubes. This was released in August 2013 - it would be four years before the next MPm Release - in October 2017 - at the start of my renewed interest in MPm - with nine further albums in quick succession.

[] Album MPm14 Footfall A & B edit. Is the first of this new music. I had noticed that when using my Apartment block stairwell - I would probe its huge resonance, its railings and steps, with my feet and stick. As time came to leave I recorded myself doing this - timing it as if it were a work each time I had to record this. I made these two works from it.

[] Album MPm 15 Inventions for steel casing is a farewell to a friend - The Huge boiler in the old family house and its wonderful casing - where I taught myself to play as a boy - on the dozens of tones it had. I caught these final sessions with it.

[] Album MPm 16 Impromptus in Four and Three parts - that is in sets of 4 and 3 parts respectively on the large concrete landing of my apartment block on huge cardboard packages - the natural reverb was beautiful.

[] Album MPm 17 Six Sonatas for Metal Percussion - six fast paced, nimble pieces for solo percussionist on a metal object. In this case a metal unit live in my Isabel studio - August 2017. A sonata as a display piece is the reference point for these.

[] Album MPm 18 Inventions for industrial Unit. Ten inventions for percussion on the back of an industrial Freezer - it's radiating grills and Body.

[] Album MPm 19 - Now is Not the Time for Dancing - Two sets of six inventions for MP - for two people who have been pivotal to me in the music world and great friends both, The Tom Hewitt and the Frances Magdalene Wilson Inventions and also 4 pieces for left hand alone.

[] Album MPm 20 Parellelia - Automation for Mechanical Clock, well not quite - there were actually no clocks involved. Coupled with Performance on an English Iron work - Rh 575.

- Of note here is the ‘Performance Park Pale - Rh 563’ - a performance on a Park’s Metal fencing - to be found on the Album Dm 26 - Double Up ! Next question ‘Well when did you last see it ?’ It Fixed up on the wrong album. These things happen.

[] Album MPm 21 Performance in Plastic. Pioneering performance using two plastic vessels as drum sticks - for a whole range of tones, textures and rhythms. MPm - for the record - pardon the pun - is ‘Percussion on anything other than Drums - percussion as a Generality.’

[] Album MPm 22 Quarlium - my 142nd and last, numbered album -I think I have just about covered it now. Returning to the heavy grade steel vessel of the ‘Inventions for Steel Vassal’ - album MPm 8 - along time ago. This time with a full sonata - my fourth sonata for tuned metal.


Outer Blue Group - MPm []

DCM 096 Em 38 -- Blue Dark Marine
DCM 097 MSEP 22 -- Sn for Solo Vc 1, 2
DCM 098 Dm 15 -- Dm Sn no 9. 9
DCM 099 MSEP 23 -- Sn & St for S. Vc
DCM 100 Dm 16 -- W Dan. 8 -14
DCM 101 Em 39 -- Dodecette
DCM 102 MSEP 24 -- Luigi
DCM 103 Dm 17 -- Dm Sn no.10

[] DCM 104 MPm 12 -- Hamermusic []

DCM 105 MSEP 25 -- Consort m. for Strings

[] DCM 106 MPm 13 -- 45’23 - Mp solo []

DCM 107 Dm 18 -- Zen Yen Zen
DCM 108 Dm 19 -- Metrognomics
DCM 109 MSEP 26 -- Nabucco - Om
DCM 110 EM 40 -- Profusion
DCM 111 Em 41 -- Cant for P C
DCM 112 Phm 12 -- Past for wind gr.
DCM 113 Arkiv -- Arkiv
DCM 114 Em 42 -- Funeral Music
DCM 115 MSEP 27 -- TUOE [Sym 2]
DCM 116 MSEP 28 -- Sin Vit [Sym 3]
DCM 117 MSEP 29 -- Symphony 4
DCM 118 DM 20 -- Table music
DCM 119 Dm 21 -- Konnyek
DCM 120 MSEP 30 -- Codasolo
DCM 121 Dm 22 -- 5th Inv for Dj
DCM 122 Dm 23 -- Drum Mantra
DCM 123 MSEP 31 -- Symphony 5
DCM 124 Dm 24 -- 6th Inv for Dj

[] DCM 125 MPm 14 -- Footfall A & B []
[] DCM 126 MPm 15 -- Inv for Steel Casing []
[] DCM 127 MPm 16 -- Imp in 4 and 3 Pts []
[] DCM 128 MPm 17 -- Six Sns. for Metal P []
[] DCM 129 MPm 18 -- Inv for Industrial Unit []
[] DCM 130 MPm 19 -- Now is N. t. T. f Dan []
[] DCM 131 MPm 20 -- Parellelia []

DCM 132 MSEP 32 -- Organum

[] DCM 133 MPm 21 -- Perfor in Plastic []

DCM 134 Em 43 -- Geut - B Version
DCM 135 Em 44 -- Vib. Blue Light
DCM Ark Em Arkiv -- What nu. Added to
DCM 136 Dm 25 -- Sn for S. Dm 11 &12
DCM 137 MSEP 33 -- They Make Music
DCM 138 Dm 26 -- Double Up + Per PP
DCM Ark Dm Arkiv -- Sometime Live
DCM 139 Dm 27 -- In an English Pa Ch

[] DCM 140 MPm 22 -- Quarlium []

DCM 141 MSEP 34 -- A Little Less than K.
DCM 142 MSEP 35 -- Gregorious A & B
DCM 143 MSEP 36 -- Entangled A.B & C


The DCM album numbers list volumes in a [for the most part]
chronological edition - the ‘DCM Broadhurst Edition’ - Prepared for the British Library in 2021. The volumes or albums themselves were actually released as and when it was possible. The Edition though, was planed from the start to stand on the 'foundation Stone' of the Blue Cherry group.

The Rh catalogue, numbers my individual works in order of Completion.