Compelling, unnerving, brittle, ominous--clamorous, but never discordant. Darren Miller consistently walks that fine line, delivering sophisticated electronic and experimental music, while keeping listeners utterly engrossed.

Track 1 from the Núcleo Música Nova compilation: "Electroacoustic Works | Vol. 1" (2017).  

Program Notes: 

"Misheard (2017). U.S. composer Dolores White was interviewed on the February 2017 episode of Elisabeth Blair’s podcast: Listening to Ladies; which also featured an excerpt from White’s work for chamber orchestra: Crystal Gazing. I was immediately taken by the central role of the high, metallic, percussion instruments featured in the excerpt. Although I was conscious of the fact that I had been listening to the podcast in a noisy room, and that Crystal Gazing had been excerpted; I was still quite surprised to discover how flawed my mental image of the piece was (when I eventually tracked down a full recording). I was still moved by the piece as written, but I was also quite surprised to find out that it was very different from what I had imagined. In composing Misheard I chose to pursue my flawed impression of Crystal Gazing, in a kind of tribute to an imaginary work (and also to the very real and moving work that led to all of these varied impressions). First, I was concerned with a purely sonic question: how might one build up a (mostly) pitched form around a (mostly) unpitched, semi-random, metallic jangle? However, the process also led to several more philosophical questions emerging from the relationship of Misheard to Crystal Gazing, such as: is the former truly an imitation of the latter? To what degree is attribution to White’s work called for in this context? What is the role of the subjective in all imitation? How does rehearing influence not only musical listening but also composition (especially in a medium as replay-heavy as electronic music)? I don’t know that I’m any closer to answering any of these questions (or the many others that occurred throughout the project), but Misheard is certainly a reflection of these preoccupations. It is for this reason that I have chosen to mention them here, superfluous as they may seem."

Darren Miller - Misheard

Darren Miller

Recent comments

Cliff Burns