BLOCK

16-channel acousmatic piece
January 2022
Installed / Performed
International Computer Music Conference (ICMC)
Limerick, Ireland
July 3, 2022
July 9, 2022
New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF)
New York, NY
June 20, 2022
June 26, 2022
SMC–22
Saint-Etienne, France
June 5, 2022
June 12, 2022

“Everything yielded and invisible holes opened everywhere. However, the overall structure did not disappear; even if you suddenly found yourself alone somewhere, you could feel things tugging and tearing at you. […] You could call it music; you felt elevated by it. I did not feel as if I were moving on my own legs. I felt as if I were in a resonant wind.” – Canetti

BLOCK experiments with conflict between strict formal organization and the disorganization of natural sound. Beginning with the “block” – identical cells arranged by a few basic rules – the structure inevitably loosens, becoming more like fields of sound and space. Voices overlap and ascend; pitch variations beat against each other. The friction pulls the entire structure upwards and gradually apart. The block dissolves.