Output details

Parenthesis

The source materials for Parenthesis did not have fixed pitches or pitch-centres but were derived from synthetic and recorded noise-based sounds. These were explored through various distortion and granulation processes and shaped into rhythmic pulses and iterations. The piece is concerned with the articulation of energy and speed through the accumulation and dispersal of noise-based phrases and structures and this brief digression from my usual compositional approach inspired my choice of the title.

The source materials for Parenthesis did not have fixed pitches or pitch-centres but were derived from synthetic and recorded noise-based sounds. These were explored through various distortion and granulation processes and shaped into rhythmic pulses and iterations. As a result, Parenthesis is characterised by granular noise – a term used by Denis Smalley to describe sea, water textures, wind, static interference, granular friction between rubbed and scraped materials, fracturing materials (e.g. stone). There are no intended source-bonded sounds. However, listeners are likely to bond certain sound materials with extrinsic sources and references (such as those described by Smalley) and/or identify familiar sound transformations/processes (such as granulation, wave-set distortion, bit-depth reduction, amongst others). In this respect, the piece encourages technological listening – a term used by Smalley to describe situation in which a listener ‘perceives’ the technology or technique behind the music. As with previous pieces, the sound-world of Parenthesis is characterised by a gesture-texture interplay; gestural materials are extremely active (involving a range of glitch-like fragments, iterations, grains and pulses) and the textural materials are clearly derived from their gestural counterparts. The piece is concerned with the articulation of energy and speed through the accumulation and dispersal of noise-based phrases and structures, with various structural points serving to connect and organise the sound-world. Parenthesis was composed in Studio Circé at the Institut International de Musique Electroacoustic de Bourges (IMEB), France and has been published on the Sargasso label. It has received over 20 international performances and broadcasts, including performances at the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Sound and Music Expo, FILE Electronic Language Festival in Brazil, New Media Fest’ 2010 in Germany and ÉuCuE xxvii at Concordia University, Canada.