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10 minutes or the time it takes to eat a snack

 

In this new composition, JJJJJerome Ellis collects and arranges sounds from the last five years into an aural bouquet, continuing their practice of temporal experimentation. A quiet brightness blooms over the course of the piece, beckoning listeners to slow down and tune in to the present moment.

BY JJJJJerome Ellis

Illustration of Nose and Magnifying Glass
What sounds and/or instruments
are used in this work?

I used tenor saxophone, Korg Minilogue synthesizer, hammered dulcimer, voice, flute, pipe organ, and audio processing effects through the Ableton Live software.

JJJJJerome Ellis playing a hammered dulcimer. Photo by Ava Aubry.

[ID: JJJJJerome plays a hammered dulcimer. They stand on a stage surrounded by dark brown wood paneling, speakers, microphones, a grand piano, and a pipe organ.]

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    • 2507 by JJJJJerome Ellis, 2025.

    Recorded by JJJJJerome Ellis, Graham Duncan, and Karen Blackall. Mixed by JJJJJerome Ellis. Mastered by Angel Marcloid.

    [Audio Description: The piece opens with three pulsing waves of extended bright notes, reminiscent of light beams waking you up in the morning. Gently, several melodies are overlaid, from what seems like an organ and saxophones, in a loop. They are distorted into an echo that carries in and out. There are waves of distortion, overlays, and various instruments between thirty-second intervals of stillness throughout the piece. It evokes a feeling of walking through a summer shower as it builds back up to the next passing cloud, each one different in its droning. In the middle of the piece, a harmony builds into a mix of rapid flutes and organ notes, before dissipating back into extended low organ notes before fading out. Suddenly, a hammered dulcimer quickly begins to play. It feels like the storm has passed and the sun is radiating down on you.]

     

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    Illustration of Nose and Magnifying Glass
    How do you think about pacing and rhythm when composing?

    I determine a lot of the pacing and rhythm through feel. When I’m playing the instruments and making recordings of those performances, I am usually improvising and discovering pace and rhythm as I go along. Then when I’m assembling the composition later, collaging together different recordings, I’ll listen over and over to the developing composition. If I feel like a sonic element wants to come earlier or later, I’ll note that feeling. I’ll keep listening, and if that feeling remains through multiple listens, across multiple days, weeks, months, or years, in various settings (usually listening to drafts while biking or walking or driving), that feeling will shape my editing decisions.

    Ableton live file of 2507. Courtesy of the artist. Artwork © JJJJJerome Ellis.

    [ID: A screenshot of various multicolored audio tracks layered on top of each other in the music software program Ableton. Some audio tracks are titled with the date, artist name, and instrument name.]

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    Illustration of Nose and Magnifying Glass
    How did you approach
    developing this new soundscape?

    I collaged together sounds from different sources, including recordings I made at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2024 and recordings I made at home in Virginia in 2025 as well as my old home in New York in 2020. I like to think of the collage process as creating a bouquet from a garden I’ve been tending for years, snipping flowers from plants of different ages and different origins. The actual assembling happens mainly in Ableton Live, a digital audio workstation. The above is a screenshot of the Ableton Live file for this piece. Each horizontal band of color is a different layer of sound, a different flower in the bouquet.

    Portrait of JJJJJerome Ellis. Photo by Annie Forrest.

    [ID: JJJJJerome Ellis, a Black person with a beard, smiles broadly. They are wearing a dress made with a floral eyelet fabric.]

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    JJJJJerome Ellis
    Any Pronouns
    Norfolk, VA

    JJJJJerome Ellis is an artist living on traditional Nansemond and Chesepioc land, aka Norfolk, VA.

    jjjjjerome.com
    Instagram: @jjjjjeromeellis

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