Vocalise
for fixed media in 5.1 surround sound (2017) | Premiere: Boston University Tanglewood Institute Electroacoustic Composition Workshop
Vocalise was premiered in the summer of 2017 at Tanglewood, as part of the inaugural session of the Electroacoustic Composition Workshop.
The piece explores time dilation in the context of spoken word by manipulating the phonic envelopes of speech samples. These samples are juxtaposed on a formal structure that mimics the temporal processes of monosyllabic sounds. Dilated material is processed akin to Alvin Lucier’s I am sitting in a room, layering copies of the same sound to reinforce typically inaudible frequencies. The electronic medium reveals the composite resonances of ubiquitous, but otherwise imperceptible sounds.
Surround spatialization enhances the sensation of mouth movement by shifting the sound to mirror the vocal locales of percussive articulation and guttural sustain. The parameters of attack, sustain, and release are reflected formally through classical ternary structure, mimicking the original envelope of the source material.