Works

Ground, 2012, for organ and computer, 10'02"

Recorded at St Werburgh's Church, Dublin, 21 November 2012. Michael Quinn, organ; Fergal Dowling, computer.

The musical material of Ground is derived entirely from environmental audio samples recorded along the route that was once marked by Dublin's medieval city walls. The typical soundscape in this area is now often crowded with the sound of car and truck engines. These spaces are now continuously energised by persistent, broadband sound.

I made sample recordings along this route and, in Ground, these recordings are resounded in sequence to form a musical ground which appears in the 'tape' part. The environmental samples appear both as untreated, block-like quotations of their representative spaces, and as musical material. The instrumental part is derived from analysis of these environmental recordings, and the performed organ part also acts as a filter, subtlety altering the tonal balance of the recordings and mediating between the exterior environment and the interior performance space. In this way, the organ part become re-imprinted on it’s own source.