Straphanger (2006) [6']

Presentation History:
- Premiere: Graduate Recital, Atlanta, GA 2/2/07
- Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference, Atlanta, GA, 4/11/07
- neoPhonia New Music Ensemble, Atlanta, GA 4/17/07
- "Unseen Forces: Electronic Music by Atlanta Composers." Atlanta, GA 1/28/08
- "Signals of the Vitruvian Man," Belfast, UK 2/29/08

Straphanger is based entirely upon the sounds of Atlanta's MARTA rail system. The title is a slang term for a subway commuter, and the piece depicts a musical daydream, beginning with clear samples of the subway before drifting elsewhere. Once the car's doors close, the mind begins to wander through metallic scrapings sounds, ethereal bubbling clouds, and dissonant voices before being jolted awake by the clattering sounds of the tracks. Soon the mind wanders again and the tracks become explosions and the explosions become distant organ arpeggios. This piece makes extensive use of granular synthesis, and algorithmic generation, subtractive synthesis, and time-stretching.

Listen (excerpt):


The full work is available on the CD Parallel Lives. See my store.
Also available on the Atlanta Composers 2008 sampler disc.

This work also exists in a version for installation.