"Ricochet Orbit" for Bb clarinet and fixed-media. Performed by Gleb Kanasevich, July 5,2013 as part of the SoundSCAPE festival.

Ricochet Orbit for Bb clarinet and fixed-media

Gravitational Altitude Correction - Spring 2008



In composing Gravitational Altitude Correction aka G.A.C., I wanted to explore the granular synthesis tools within GraceCl.  I created a program that would process source files so that the resulting sound file would contain multiple and differing layers of granular synthesis, amplitudes, and spatial locations.  I then assembled these sound files within the ProTools environment and subjected them to further concrete techniques. In addition to synthesis, the work contains many unaltered source files that I used to reinforce certain gestures. 
My compositional intention for G.A.C. was to impart a sense of movement similar to freefall. I tried to capture the constant tension and uncertainty that would be created by this motion. In this composition, I made use of semi-static sounds and constant spatial movement to recreate both height and speed of a theoretical freefall. 


Gravitational Altitude Correction

Deloy Ges is the name of an Alaskan village. This work was inspired by the story of the creation of the surrounding hills by Yixgitsiy, also known as Raven.

This work was commissioned by Jeffery Spenner and was premiered November 9, 2011, by the  University of Illinois Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Aaron Kaplan.

Deloy Ges

(I)Holba for guitar and flute - Midi

A short work composed in 2007 using text from Robert Anton Wilson's novel "Schrodinger's Cat."

Requiem for Robert Anton Wilson

Recording of "Thermal Bloom" dedicated to and performed by Stefan Greenfield-Casas. Recorded March 15, 2015 at UT - San Antonio.


Thermal Bloom for Horn and stereo fixed-media

This is a soundtrack that I composed for Josephine Turalba's video work "No Way Forward, No Way Back."

Disquiet Refrains

A midi representation of the piece "La Sirena."

La Sirena Midi mockup

Bowshock - Premiere by Brielle Frost

Resonance Engine Premiere

I composed Cascarones while studying the score of Ave Maris Stella (1975) by Peter Maxwell Davies. As I examined the work, which was composed using a plainchant melody and the 9x9 magic square of the moon, I began to develop my own theories of how the chant and square could be used to generate musical materials such as form, pitch, rhythm, and harmonies. While some of my theories and experimental paths through the square were quite similar to particular moments in the Davies score, it was the remaining, unused ideas that really intrigued me and thus inspired me to compose a work with the leftover materials.

In this piece, I use the popular Mexican folk tune De Colores as inspiration for my pitch material. While fragments of the melody do appear scattered though out the composition, it is not my intention for the listener to recognize or identify such moments. For this work, I also chose to use the 9x9 magic square of the moon, which, like a Cascarón (an eggshell filled with brightly colored confetti), serves as my framework or “shell” for the colorful folkloric pitch materials used within.


Cascarones

This work was inspired by a road trip through Pennsylvania. As I drove through the state’s multitude of valleys, I selected the “scan” mode on the radio, which would play five seconds of a station with strong reception before moving to the next one. 

I was enthralled by the variety of the broadcasting: music, talk radio, static, and complete silence. 

As the journey progressed, the presence of so many small towns within the small valleys caused many of the stations to share signal crosstalk, which I found most fascinating.

This crosstalk reminded me of my youth in deep South Texas. The land area, while quite large, had very few radio stations on the American side of the border. As a result, I spent many nights—when the radio signals traveled farther without interference—listening to rock stations broadcast from Mexico and from other distant cities in Texas.
 
Many times these stations would be very weak—full of static or crosstalk—while at other times, the stations would have a strong signal without any interference.

This work was commissioned by Zack Penckofer and dedicated to him as well as Michael and Quinn Collins.

Scan

Sk’elep is an alternate name for Coyote in the Secwepemc or Shuswap language group, a tribal language spoken in the Canadian province of British Columbia. In Native American mythology, a coyote is a trickster god and is generally benevolent. The coyote is highly respected for its cleverness and its will to survive.

This work follows a sonic journey through a collection of landscapes. The first is a cityscape to acknowledge the presence of coyote in our modern cities. The work then transforms to a rural environment reflecting the coyote’s original habitat. From there, the piece evolves into a mystical setting reflecting on the spiritual connection that the coyote symbolizes in Native American Culture.

Realized in the University of Illinois Experimental Music Studios.

JHoltMusic

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