Pocket Anxiety

Chiaroscuro [Hyperresonance II] (2007), for cello and electroacoustics. Craig Hultgren, cello.
For more information, visit:
http://mikelkuehn.com/index.php/works/83-work-sample/114-chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro [Hyperresonance II] (2007, cello and electroacoustics)

Naphthalene captures our fear of the unknown, the hatred that stems from our ignorance.  Often, this hatred is baseless; we don't understand, or misinterpret an aspect of our world, and learn to fear it.

A growing number of people fear pesticides, citing it as one of our greatest health concerns.  However, these pesticides, like the chemical Naphthalene, not only pose no threat to humans once the food is on the table, but are extremely beneficial in producing the enormous quantities of food needed to keep the population fed.

I strove to create 'creepy' or 'unsettling' sounds using nothing but common household products: pencils, fans, pots, pans, etc.  The hope was to create a similar fear of the unknown with the knife you used to butter your toast.

Naphthalene

Unlocking the Keys (2021) is a fixed media Ambisonic work that explores three dimensional sonic space. The title serves as a metaphor for searching out (i.e., “unlocking”) the potential of sounds created from recorded piano sources, which start out abstract in nature and fully reveal themselves in the middle of the piece.  While the ideal listening experience for this piece is a periphonic sound system (a three dimensional configuration of speakers such as “dome” or 8-channel “cube”), the version provided here (stereo) preserves all of the musical material, mapping it down organically to a two dimensional listening space.

Naphthalene

Ethan Fegan

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