This piece continues my exploration of the potential for laptops in chamber music settings.  The piano controls the momentum by choosing from among the musical materials on each page of the score, and in doing so slowly unfolds a harmonic sequence over the piece’s duration.  The laptop is used to capture and extend the acoustic output, producing textures that at first only fill in the silences between notes and eventually compete with the piano for attention.  The tension builds until the harmonic sequence is finally stated in its entirety, after which the piece unwinds to the final coda.  The overall mood is one of reflection, with moments of peace and passion.

• live recording in MP3 – 16 min, 55 sec
• score in PDF – 1.2 MB

page 4 of the score

This piece is a first attempt to couple my laptop performance system with another live musician.  The electric guitar improvises using short motives that are captured by the laptop.  This sonic material is processed and looped to form a variety of textures.  Part 1 slowly builds to form a wall of looping figures that evokes a meditative state.  Part 2 uses chords as the basis for an animated rhythmic pattern that features subtle changes in timbre.  Overall, this piece demonstrates the expressive potential of the laptop in small ensemble settings.

• Part 1 in MP3 – 8 min 30 sec
• Part 2 in MP3 – 6 min 41 sec

Go-Go-Go.  Music is usually the place where I take refuge, find calm, enjoy meditation.  Not this time.  My hectic pace spills over into the sound and hurries the notes, infuses energy, excites the ear.  Must slow down.  The harmonic language fights against this thick texture, unflustered by the hurried pace, slowly churning the waters.  Can’t stop now.  Together they negotiate their way forward, providing a window into the pace of life at the moment, providing a personal form of silicon therapy.

• live recording in MP3 – 10 min 31 sec

In the summer of 2007, I traveled to Europe with my family. Late one afternoon while resting in a Swiss hotel, the sounds of an alphorn ensemble in the distance began to echo through the alley into the window. The slow, pleasant droning continued for several hours well into the evening. “desire for” is the continuing echo of these alphorns in my memory.

live recording in MP3 – 10 min, 56 sec

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Videos on YouTube

MPG4 (4:03) – Megan England and Kevin Ward, producers

Bond in Brooklyn (4:46) – Jhaysonn Pathak and Greg Lenhart, producers

Liberate Your Cool (8:09) – Melanie McConachie and Adam Wright, producers

Since 2004, I have made a series of recordings capturing familiar water sounds and used them as inspiration for my work.  This piece musically recreates gestures that evoke the patter of a moderate rain and waves crashing upon the shore.  These two ideas are set in contrast with one another, yet the resulting blend betrays the classical element that inspired them both: water.

This piece is also featured as part 3 of an audiovisual collaboration between myself and Matt Roberts, collectively known as Events.

• live performance in MP3 – 9 min, 28 sec
• studio version in MP3 – 7 min, 40 sec

In June 2006, I traveled to Ontario to participate in a symposium on the legacy of composer Iannis Xenakis, in addition to doing a little sightseeing with my family. Acoustic materials for this piece are drawn from recordings I made during this visit to Canada.  These are juxtaposed with sonic elements that merge my existing style of gradually changing textures with techniques pioneered by Xenakis.  The end result is a unique document of the trip, fragmented through memory and adapted by the process of composition.

• live recording in MP3 – 10 min, 6 sec

• studio recording in MP3 – 8 min, 13 sec

• studio recording in MP3 – 1 min, 52 sec