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Buoy (5.1 electroacoustic composition)

Buoy (acousmatic, 5.1-channels, 9 minutes 40 seconds). Premiered at IDKA (Gavle) in 2011. Subsequent performances at Fylkingen (Stockholm, 2011), MANTIS (Manchester, 2011), CMMAS (Morelia, 2011), IFiMPAC (Leeds, 2012), ICMC (Perth, 2013). Awarded First Prize in the 2012 Musica Viva Electrocoustic Music Competition (Portugal). Appears in stereo on solo-composer disc David Berezan, Allusions Sonores, empreintes DIGITALes (Montreal), 2013 (IMED 13122).

Buoy investigates the diverse sonic characteristics of seabuoys, used to aid navigation as well as scientific research of maritime weather and oceanography. Previous work in the electroacoustic medium explored the sonifcation of buoy data measuring sea levels and wave behaviour (Pacific Pulse, Bob Sturm, 2003). Buoy, however, deals with the soundworld of the buoys themselves. Through my research I learned that different classes of buoys have bells, gongs or whistles that sound in response to the action of the sea and weather, and that others transmit data via satellite. A primary research imperative of the work was to create sonic allusions of a buoy without using any actual buoy recordings. To create these allusions, and more abstract notions of interior buoy micro-sounds, I developed recordings of bell sonorities, metallic creaking and seawater, stones and seaweed (recorded in Gotland, Sweden in 2011) into a coherent musical and sonic language. Surges of materials phrased according to wave-like behaviour and underlying pulsating and droning pitched materials (alluding to the transmitted signals of buoys) created strong thematic threads through the work and provided a formal framework through suggested real-world glimpses (waves, bells) and contrasting abstract sound worlds. The timbral, textural and gestural particulars of materials were developed and integrated as 5-channel sound images: wave action (approach and recede) passes through the image, water splashes and other grain dispersals scatter in space and attack events, harmonic masses and drones are distributed across the 5 channels.