About…
by Pete Stollery |imed_0678-0001|
When I first became involved in electroacoustic music, I was fascinated
with the way that technology could allow the composer to work directly with
sound, in a similar way to how a sculptor or potter works with his/her
materials. The ability to manipulate material at this basic level is a
central aspect of my music and this can be seen most obviously from pieces
which are concerned with the interplay between the ‘meanings’
associated with sounds and these sounds as pure sonic material, divorced from
any mimetic connotation.
There is little in my music which can be likened to ‘broad
brush-work’ - attention to detail and the exact positioning of sound
objects within composed space is of the utmost importance to me. This allows
the listener to become aware of the intrinsic qualities of the sounds
themselves, and how they behave.
There are many uses of, and references to, real-world sounds in the pieces
on this disc; the key in the lock opening the door at the beginning of
Onset/Offset is, on one
level, metaphorical, but at the same time, provides an opportunity for the
listener to enjoy the spectro-morphological behaviour of this gesture.
Playing with the potential ambiguities of listening is central to all these
pieces; a door slides open to reveal a new sound space, but at the same time,
the listener dwells on the texture and shape of that slide; a street scene is
recognised initially, but with the subtle inclusion of other sounds, and
gradually mutates into the unrecognisable - the boundaries between what is
known and what is unknown become blurred. A roulette wheel is stretched and
the outer surface peeled back to reveal new sounds beyond…
… sounds can hide one another…
Pete Stollery
[iii-06]
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