“Linger” is about waiting. It explores the mental space we inhabit every day when waiting for things to happen. Atmospheric sounds evoke this space, following one another while weaving themselves into a slowly developing, texturally accumulative rhythm. Feelings of anticipation express themselves through an exploration of spatial sounds, abstract musical coherence, and the dialogue between them.

"Linger" by Gabriel Wheaton

"Gray Space" is an exploration in the conceptual framework of binaries and ways in which these binaries can be collapsed. The piece draws upon familiar, conventional sounds, both from organic, nature-like sources and man-made technologies; specifically the sounds of water (in various forms) combined with feverish typing on a computer keyboard. Initially, the work juxtaposes these two sounds, establishing the foundation of the dichotomy itself. The sounds then begin to grow in and out of one another, seamlessly evolving and revealing similarities in frequency range and percussive structure. The simultaneous layering of these conceptually polar opposite sound sources showcase their similarities in timbre and texture, which further prove that what we perceive to be two binary concepts, in fact can be easily blurred and confused, in turn allowing them to inhabit and occupy the vast “gray space” that exists between them.

"Gray Space" by Stephanie Economou

"Wake Up!" is a recomposition and deconstruction of a Bach chorale (Wachet Auf, from Cantata #140). Almost all of the pitches are taken in order from the chorale. By deleting pitches while leaving the structure mostly intact, the chorale itself is cast in a new light (and cast in shadows as well). As the piece progresses, more of the original Bach appears, and thus the chorale is revealed gradually, as if emerging from a shroud of fog. The instruments and timbres used also serve to obscure the Baroque origin of the music, removing it from its own time, yet retaining reverent spirituality of the original.

"Wake Up!" by Zach Neufeld

"Phases of Glass" translates visual images of glass in various forms into aural, spatial textures. The opening color palette emulates the way in which glass looks when permeated by light, as demonstrated by the repetition of high-register, pitched electronic tones combined with processed wind-like noise. This creates a sense of translucency and shimmer, which is then counterbalanced by evolution of the wind into a low-register tone. This texture gradually morphs into a contrasting frequency area with evolving drones, examining the adaptability of glass within a sonic landscape.
The sudden entrance of a violent, dense cloud exemplifies a kind of slow-motion shattering of the pure glass sculpted in the opening texture. The colors that result are more rhythmic and pulse- driven as to create the sense of splintering and fracturing into hundreds of pieces. The use of reversed bell sounds imitate a sharpness of the glass shrapnel; the sonic antithesis of the previous section. The piece as a whole illuminates glass as a versatile and multi-dimensional material which can be recalled through the synthesis of varied sonic textures and frequency combinations.

"Phases of Glass" by Stephanie Economou

"Birth" leads us through the process of coming into the world from the perspective of a fetus. Beginning in utero and ending in the hospital room, a palette of synthesized sound recreates one of the most fundamental human experiences that is rarely remembered. Gaps in the composer's medical knowledge are filled in by musical reimagination.

UCLA Music: Sonic Arts