Climate Change can be an incredibly difficult idea to conceptualize, especially in the Midwest as the early and dramatic effects have mostly spared our environment and communities. Timothy is passionate about finding new and unique ways to present, highlight, and engage with the science, researching the scope of the problem and possible solutions.

Aspects of the Thaw is a presentation of a small portion of this data through an artistic lens. Throughout this composition, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) parts per million and Methane (CH4) parts per billion data can be found as the primary musical building blocks of sound and structure. Informing sequences of notes, interval vectors, and rhythmic structures, the data creates light and dense clouds of sound or sharp melodic contours.

This piece also includes Ice Core CO2 samples from a data set ranging back 800,000 years in juxtaposition with the modern atmospheric data. By isolating around 10,000 years scaled in time and register, this historical data is presented as low range sounds marking the average CO2 below 300 ppm.

The final section of the piece isolates 8 years of modern CO2 data demonstrating the drastic rise of atmospheric concentration of this greenhouse gas in one of the most remote places on earth. The range of this data is just 388 ppm to 411 pm.

This piece is composed using climate data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Carbon Cycle Cooperative Global Air Sampling Network. All samples are taken from the South Pole Observatory, Palmer Station, and Ice Core samples from Antarctica.



Photograph By Ian van Coller, National Science Foundation on November 22, 2019 during hurricane force winds of a mid-day snow storm at Allan Hills field camp. (https://photolibrary.usap.gov/PhotoDetails.aspx?filename=2019Nov22-AllanHills-blizzard.jpg)

Mosaic II

Aspects of the Thaw

Wave Decay is a series of pieces addressing the impact of modern civilization on ocean ecosystems. This piece addresses pollution, endangered species, and naturalism in music through transcriptions of the natural environment and data transformed into sound. 

Papakōlea is a green sand beach on at the southern end of Mauna Loa on Hawaii's big island. Along the hike to this beach is nothing but pristine ocean and untended beaches. Upon closer investigation, you find plastic waste of all varieties littered among the volcanic rocks. This inspired the creation of this selection.

The musical materials constructing this piece are sourced from two data sets. The wave pattern and durations are created using data by the Coastal Data Information Program, Integrative Oceanography Division, operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. From this data set, I utilized ocean buoy wave height, wave peak, and wave period. I improvised waves patterns that mirrored the wave structures and periods found from Hilo (station 188) to create a musical landscape. As a sonic allegory, the waves of sound are created by using repurposed plastic materials.

For the Viola parts, I referenced Roland Geyer et al., “Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made”. I translated the mean plastic lifetimes into structural constraints. For example, plastics used in building and construction last about 35 years. This correlates with the harmonic and structural building blocks of the piece where each year equals 1 quarter note. The same may be found with the mean textiles (textures) and packaging (ornamentation) of plastic materials.


This performance is just the plastic environmental sounds.

References

Data were furnished by the Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP), Integrative Oceanography Division, operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, under the sponsorship of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Parks and Recreation. https://doi.org/10.18437/C7WC72

Roland Geyer et al., Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. 
Sci. Adv.3, e1700782 (2017). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700782

Wave Decay - Papakolea (Waves) - Timothy Reinholz

4 Movements for Cello and Electronics (Final Master)

Movement 4

A track from the group Vintage Babies (comprised of Maimouna Youssef & Dj Dummy) debut album. written and performed by Maimouna Youssef, Produced by Dj Dummy.

12 WORK IN PROGRESS (FEAT. ELENA PINDERHUGHES)

If all the beauty of an individual's interpretation found a home in synchronicity, this is it's abode. An homage to Chopin, a modern rendering of Nocturne in B major, Op. 62 No. 1. Composed through the eyes of a contemporary electronic composer and the fingers of some of the greatest pianists ever to touch the ivory, this piece is a tribute to the finesse, expertise, and authority from some of the greatest pianists of a generation through a masterwork from the old era. Herein, you will find a stark exploitation and juxtaposition of their individuality and creative genius.

Homage to Chopin: Nocturne in B major, Op. 62 No. 1

John Adams - Shaker Loops

composer violist and producer writing music

Homage to Chopin: Nocturne in B major, Op. 62 No. 1

Timothy Reinholz

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