discourse: conversation...; lengthy treatment of a subject..., lecture/speech... 
course: onward movement or progression...; direction taken...

This piece considers various levels of interaction (discourse) between its resonant and non-resonant source material. A number of different paths (courses) are followed in each section, ranging from the detailed exploration of a single sound-type to a broader investigation of the relationships between several. This discourse is purely musical; the anecdotal is latent, but direct images and meaning remain elusive, and even the whispered voice is incomprehensible throughout.

disCourse was composed in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of the University of Wales, Bangor during the winter and spring of 1996/7.

disCourse

Using the uillean (Irish) bagpipe as its principal sound source, this piece was composed with a view to capturing something of the energy and intensity that characterises the traditional Irish reel. Such an 'upbeat' quality is achieved in this genre not least by the upbeat itself (the anacrusis being essential to its iambic rhythmic structure) and the preparatory gesture that opens the piece thus becomes an important feature throughout.
While a lively disposition prevails, reference is also made to other, more melancholy folk genres - in particular to the air and lament - in the latter half of the piece. At such times, the pipe sonorities are at their closest to their raw form; the sounds tend otherwise to be heavily processed and largely unrecognisable. Nonetheless, the essential quality of the instrument remains, as does the manner of its performance - particularly in the ever-present drone which underlies the intricacies of the surface material.

Reel was conceived at the University of Wales Bangor during the summer of 1997 and completed at the University of Birmingham. Grateful acknowledgements go in particular to Keith Powell who kindly provided the source material and who thereafter graciously allowed me to savage it completely.

Reel

The title of this piece refers both to its brevity and to the fleeting glimpses of frenetic pianistic activity that occur throughout. By embracing the ‘incidental’ sounds of the piano action, I have also tried to capture a certain ‘live’ performance element and thereby in some way allude to the nature of performance as a passing phenomenon... this belied, of course, by the very permanence of this fixed-media rendition.

Fleeting was composed as part of an installation at the Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art in the autumn of 1999. Composers were invited to submit electroclips of 2 minutes' duration on the subject of TRACE which were to be burned to a limited-edition CD and played in 'random' mode throughout the exhibition.

Fleeting

Steamin' was composed in response to a commission from Sonic Arts Network Education for a three-minute contribution to Sound Magic, a CDROM designed to introduce sound design and composition to school children. The piece aims to generate a sense of the immense power and rhythmic intensity generated by the steam locomotive.

Steamin

Assorted ideas concerning outdoor, spatial environments crystallised into the concept of velocity from which this work evolved. The piece involves an exploration of the ways in which speed (or conversely stagnancy) might be implied entirely through the use of sound, both real and 'unreal', and placed within a context that allows it free reign as a musical device. Cinematic elements suggesting movement have thus been combined with gestures and textures of varying energy and complexity - the electroacoustic medium permitting fluid interaction between the two.

Velocity was composed in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of the University of Wales, Bangor during the spring of 1996.

Velocity

Nebula develops the idea of fragmented materials as introduced in Kaleidoscope: Fissure, celebrating the ephemeral, fleeting and transient through swirling textures and particulate clouds. Periodically these particles coalesce or give way to coherent, solid soundscapes before exploding again into sonic nebulae. 

peterbatchelor