Straphanger: Installation Version (2007)

Premiere: Belfast, 1/17/08

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.

This is a second version of my 6-minute work Straphanger. Using the sounds from that work as well as "leftovers" from the composition process, I created this extended installation version. There is about 100 minutes of unique material, which may be presented via Max/MSP patch or via two CD players on random shuffle. Thus, there will be a continually changing and evolving soundscape that is similar in tone to the original, but much more relaxed and introspective in pace.

Excerpt

This version may be presented in stereo, but is perhaps more appropriate in a quadraphonic context. It may also be presented in conjunction with a small group of improvisers reacting to and supplementing the texture. If you are interested in presenting this work, please contact me and I will send you the necessary materials.

Excerpt - with improvisers