electroacoustic composer

Stratus (2004).

Stratus - Latin for layer or blanket. A major structural idea in this piece is the implied transitions between solid, liquid and gaseous states with their associated energy changes. Changing atmospheric conditions and weather patterns were inspiration, (with stratus also begin a particular type of cloud). Almost all sound is heavily processed, yet there is an underlying sense of the natural as perceived through what might ( or might not) be distant rumbles of thunder or the hissing of gases. A wide spectrum of frequencies define an immense landscape as the environment for for sonic events, and closely magnified sounds further emphasis the vastness of this setting.

Changing perspectives of an unearthly atmosphere and the kinetic energy of elements dominate, but perhaps not those elements with which we are most familiar. This piece displays an unreal environment in which although we might identify with certain transitions and shapes, they exist within a predominantly nebulous, unfamiliar and ambiguous wound-world. Pressure rises and recedes; Gases circles and transform; sounds move close, then dramatically fade, a constant reminder to the listener of the unpredictability of the skies.

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