Gasp Grids (2015)
Instrumentation: clarinet, cello, fixed-media (quadraphonic)
Duration: 7 minutes
Duration: 7 minutes
Program Note:
Gasp Grids is an apprehensive, obsessive, mechanical entity inspired by the sonic qualities of the human gasp, a rapid, sudden, intense upward inflection of breath. This physical action manifests itself relentlessly through a variety of musical gestures in Gasp Grids. One example occurs in the beginning where dramatic register contrasts between the clarinet and cello are heard over an imposing, ominous, bass presence. Electronically, this soundscape is crafted from the amplification of ambient sound with strong low frequencies and deep MIDI tones of pizzicato strings. Later, there is the actual presence of gasp samples; these appear unaltered and in transformed presentations using comb filters (which highlight harmonic frequencies of the sample) and granulation (a splice-and-cut way of reorganizing microscopic bits of a sample). Additional wind and mouth sounds (e.g. throat growls) undergoing similar transformations create a breath-based counterpoint. The idea of a gird, or another constricting structure, is suggested by stark mechanical elements like bright metallic, sounds and synthetic sound patches.
Gasp Grids is an apprehensive, obsessive, mechanical entity inspired by the sonic qualities of the human gasp, a rapid, sudden, intense upward inflection of breath. This physical action manifests itself relentlessly through a variety of musical gestures in Gasp Grids. One example occurs in the beginning where dramatic register contrasts between the clarinet and cello are heard over an imposing, ominous, bass presence. Electronically, this soundscape is crafted from the amplification of ambient sound with strong low frequencies and deep MIDI tones of pizzicato strings. Later, there is the actual presence of gasp samples; these appear unaltered and in transformed presentations using comb filters (which highlight harmonic frequencies of the sample) and granulation (a splice-and-cut way of reorganizing microscopic bits of a sample). Additional wind and mouth sounds (e.g. throat growls) undergoing similar transformations create a breath-based counterpoint. The idea of a gird, or another constricting structure, is suggested by stark mechanical elements like bright metallic, sounds and synthetic sound patches.