Recordings

Commercial Releases

Chaotic Neutral (2022)
non-narrative sounds from the evolving spaceship

A sound doesn’t have to hold human meaning to carry weight and identity.

This is a collection of sounds presented without specific narrative, but with deep appreciation for the unique beauty inherent in each sonic moment.

Remain Calm. This Is Just A Test. (2021)
Recorded at The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University

Quadrivium (2018)
“After some thought, I have come up with an album name Quadrivium. I am drawn to this name because I’ve been very fascinated with the actual Quadrivium for several years and a copy of it is always on my studio desk. It also, ties into my concept of what a new renaissance artist is because it covers arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy… all subjects that are of interest to me in my creative practice.”
— ELIZABETH A. BAKER

Quadrivium is Elizabeth A. Baker’s debut album on Aerocade. It is a double disc sized digital release of minimalist solo piano compositions, avant garde prepared piano improvisations, meditative new-age tracks, spoken word, and electronics.

{this is not a piano album} (2016)
(noun) an album in which, a keyboard connected to hammers striking strings with 88 distinct pitches, is never played.

Compositions and structured improvisational works by Elizabeth A. Baker for a cast of instrumental characters played by Elizabeth A. Baker including toy piano, Indian harmonium, theremin, electronics, synthesizer, and found objects; with assistance from Dawn Pufahl (viola) and Fofi Panagiotouros (clarinet).

{a series of strange narratives} (2015)
A collection of electroacoustic works for piano and voice, exploring a series metaphysical programatic themes.

Non-Commercial Releases

relativeBorder from Three Meditations on the Edge

for string orchestra, theremin, electronics, found objects(2019)

Composed for Barron Collier High School’s String Orchestra under the direction of Jordan P. Lamb.

Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

Three Meditations from the Edge is a multi-movement work for string orchestra and a variety of enhancement as well as soloists. The fragility of an edge is juxtaposed with the sharpness of an edge — an example is the edge of a

piece of paper, too fragile to easily balance or stack another object and yet sharp enough to draw blood in an instant. The work also exists at the edge of experimental music, a first entree composed specifically for advanced

string students at Barron Collier High School under the direction of Jordan P. Lamb. Throughout the piece students interact with extended techniques with and without the bow, as well as found objects and a variety of electronic soloists including interactive patches, theremin, fixed media, boutique synthesisers, and a dot matrix printer.

This project was designed as part of an artist residency, and recording project for STARS OF DIFFERENT HUES, a

unique outreach project focused on exposing students to experimental art and sound practices, developed by

New Renaissance Artist Elizabeth A. Baker.

Music & Concept by: Elizabeth A. Baker

Conductor/Director: Jordan P. Lamb

Inspired by the iconic book Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal, this project seeks to create a body of improvisatory works prompted from the various games and exercises outlined in the book.

I encourage artists of all mediums to use my work as a jumping off point to create their own improvisational works inspired by the various topics in the book and my sonic explorations of the physical exercises.

Columbian Hypnosis by Augusto Boal

“One actor holds her hand palm forward, fingers upright, anything between 20 and 40 centimetres away from the face of another, who is then as if hypnotised and must keep his face constantly the same distance from the hand of the hypnotiser, hairline level with her fingertips, chin more or less level with the base of her palm. The hypnotiser starts a series of movements with her hand, up and down, right and left, backwards and forwards, her hand vertical in relation to the ground, then horizontal, then diagonal, etc. – the partner must contort his body in every way possible to maintain the same distance between face and hand, so that face and hand remain parallel. If necessary, the hypnotic hand can be swapped; for instance, to force the hypnotised to go between the legs of the hypnotiser. The hand must never do movements too rapid to be followed, nor must it ever come to a complete halt. The hypnotiser must force her partner into all sorts of ridiculous, grotesque, uncomfortable positions. Her partner will thus put in motion a series of muscle structures which are never, or only rarely, activated. He will use certain ‘forgotten’ muscles in his body. After a few minutes, the two actors change, the follower and the leader. After some more time, both can extend a hypnotising right hand, becoming leaders and followers at one and the same time.”

The Iteration Project, founded by the wonderful Harper Addison in Tennessee, gives participants a prompt each week and then asks them to interpret the prompt in any medium of their choosing. The prompt for the week of April 10 was *Falling* and, I took on the task of interpreting the prompt as well as experimenting with my new gear to create a short piece, which I then posted on Soundcloud. My interpretation of falling came more from the idea of “falling from grace” and those that fall from grace in our society are seen as outcasts. While I didn’t broach the subject further, on a publicly traceable platform, I did ruminate on the subject of falling from favor throughout the week. How often in our lives do we fall from the grace of our friends, loved ones, and professional colleagues? Quite often throughout our lives, because nobody on this earth is perfect… How do we rebuild our reputation after a fall from grace? Can we rebuild our relationships after a fall from grace? These last two questions are highly subjective and do not have universal answers… thus leading me to an intellectual impasse.

Tweed Fantasy – Perpetual Dream (2016) a toy piano and found object piece with electronics, inspired by the annual Tweed Ride in Saint Petersburg, Florida. A first foray into writing for Max.

In 2013, Florida composers and friend, Jim Ivy asked Elizabeth to participate in a performance of his work Milton Bradley in a performance in Orlando. On March 9, 2014, The New Music Conflagration presented the work at The St. Petersburg Main Library. This live solo work was created on the spot using parameters set in place by Ivy. A full explanation of the piece can be found here.

This work is the amalgamation of eleven individual aleatoric works, which together form the larger work. The scores were expressed as a series of “decision flowcharts” whereby each performer made choices about how they wanted to proceed through “the map”; phrases were expressed in serial cells and a large degree of personal expression was encouraged. Every phrase (with the exception of the piano and drum set in this recording) was serialized both rhythmically and harmonically through the composer’s own stylized technique of serialism. The vocalists represent the surface structure of the piece, that being the familiar extrinsic elements of the musical world –The Muse, The Artist, and The Audience/The Critic. The instrumentalists represent the deeper structures of intrinsic musical language and the universe. The use of convolution reverb, particularly varied algorithms is used to create an otherworld in which each of the dramatis personae exists. The mix has been left static and automation was avoided so that the listener may experience something new in each listening by following their own ears rather than the composer’s/engineer’s predilections.

In 2011, I began playing regularly for art openings and events at the Leepa-Rattner Museum in Tarpon Springs, Florida. For one particular event the museum personnel asked for me to create a jazz trio. So I got a couple of friends together for the gig but due to conflicting schedules we were unable to practice together before the event. It was decided that I would improvise standards on the spot and everyone would jump in where it felt right and thus the trio was born. Later the trio morphed into a quartet and became Quartet Chromatica the official Student Ensemble-In-Residence of St. Petersburg College. This suite is an extension of that same spirit though the works are much more fleshed out than the first time the trio got together I like to think that they still maintain that fresh energy that has turned so many a room of stuffy, posh, administrators into a “hopping” event.