many echos, many ghosts

many echos, many ghosts is about the things that linger (for better and for worse) when we suddenly find ourselves in an unexpected vacuum.

The score is a 14-note loop (in 4 parts) that is repeated 8 times. Both the electronics and acoustic instrumentalists engage with this loop with varying degrees of variation. As the piece progresses, the instrumentalists are granted more freedom in shaping the notated material. The resultant simultaneous and differing performances of this loop create illusions of emergence and cause and effect.

The electronics are completely fixed and generated using VCV Rack and acoustic room feedback. I recorded the synthesized sound and played it back into the performance hall where the piece was to be premiered. I recorded that playback and then played that iterated recording back into the same recital hall. I recorded that playback and continued this process over 20 times, generating versions of the electronics that deeply resonate with the specific space (à la I Am Sitting in a Room). The result is a blurring and confusion of sound source. The synthetic and acoustic merge in ways that are not always clear, echoing each other and lingering beyond their lifetime. They occupy space together both in the present and as memory.