Mensura: Connecting the 15th and 21st centuries with the Soundbrenner Pulse

by Mark Dyer

I’ve recently finished writing Mensura, a piece for open ensemble of 3-10 performers. Working with CoMA Manchester – an amateur new music ensemble – I was commissioned to write a new work using the Soundbrenner Pulse device.

The Pulse device is a smart, vibrating metronome made by Soundbrenner. These devices, worn on the wrist, waist or leg, allow for intuitive engagement with a metronome through distinct vibrations, adjusted via the device or a phone app.

When given the Pulse device, I became interested the ability to control tempo through the act of tapping. Being an amateur medievalist, this reminded me of suggestions that musical tempo in the 15th century was also regulated by tapping an object or another singer’s shoulder with the hand and, furthermore, that units of musical time were related to the human pulse.

 In Mensura, each performer measures their own heart rate and taps this pulse into the Soundbrenner app. This tempo is then sent to a Pulse device worn by another performer, creating a an intimate network of cardiovascular rhythms. I employ various breathing and singing exercises to steer, synchronize and disrupt player heart rates and the resulting metric polyphony. Furthermore, the piece draws upon aspects of early music, including Baude Cordier’s gorgeous chanson Belle, bonne, sage.

Score of Baude Cordier's chanson "Belle, bonne, sage," from The Chantilly Manuscript, Musée Condé 564. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Mensura explores the interface between digital technology and our own bodies, and whether such an interaction might induce group coordination or disorder. The work will be premiered in Manchester on the 5th March as part of The Festival of Contemporary Music for All.