Brompton & Braeswood
2023
immersive fixed media (6th-order ambisonics)
Commissioned by New Music on the Bayou
immersive fixed media (6th-order ambisonics)
Commissioned by New Music on the Bayou
Please note: This recording is in a binaural stereo format, which simulates surround sound. For the best experience, please listen using headphones.
Brompton & Braeswood is an acousmatic piece inspired by my personal experience living through Hurricane Harvey. The title derives from the intersection where my wife and I were living at the time, along Brays Bayou in Houston. Central to my piece is a library of field recordings I captured at that intersection and along the bayou in the days immediately prior to Harvey making landfall. In composing Brompton & Braeswood, I sought to present a series of vignettes of contrasting mood and representation. The piece’s opening presents the imagery and emotion of a violent storm. The storm is initially heard directly, then — after a door slams shut — from the perspective of someone taking shelter. The piece’s second vignette depicts the gentle but unrelenting, oppressive rainfall that accompanied the hurricane, and there is a marked shift in the music which draws the listener inward toward a place of introspection. At the time Harvey struck Houston, I had just arrived home from the hospital to recover from a major surgery, following a long period of illness. Brompton & Braeswood draws on my contemporaneous thoughts and feelings: those of intense worry and gloom, but also of optimism that my health would improve.
Aside from field recordings, other sound materials include noisy tones synthesized in Max/MSP, pitched wood, and piano and guitar samples. Sound was spatialized using higher-order ambisonic encoding.
Brompton & Braeswood was commissioned by New Music on the Bayou.
Brompton & Braeswood is an acousmatic piece inspired by my personal experience living through Hurricane Harvey. The title derives from the intersection where my wife and I were living at the time, along Brays Bayou in Houston. Central to my piece is a library of field recordings I captured at that intersection and along the bayou in the days immediately prior to Harvey making landfall. In composing Brompton & Braeswood, I sought to present a series of vignettes of contrasting mood and representation. The piece’s opening presents the imagery and emotion of a violent storm. The storm is initially heard directly, then — after a door slams shut — from the perspective of someone taking shelter. The piece’s second vignette depicts the gentle but unrelenting, oppressive rainfall that accompanied the hurricane, and there is a marked shift in the music which draws the listener inward toward a place of introspection. At the time Harvey struck Houston, I had just arrived home from the hospital to recover from a major surgery, following a long period of illness. Brompton & Braeswood draws on my contemporaneous thoughts and feelings: those of intense worry and gloom, but also of optimism that my health would improve.
Aside from field recordings, other sound materials include noisy tones synthesized in Max/MSP, pitched wood, and piano and guitar samples. Sound was spatialized using higher-order ambisonic encoding.
Brompton & Braeswood was commissioned by New Music on the Bayou.
Performances
- New Music on the Bayou Festival. Biedenharn Recital Hall, University of Louisiana Monroe. June 3, 2023