Surface Friction

Program Notes

[G]rain “leaves its signature on matter”…it is better, with grains of the same type, to evaluate how they progress from quivering to limpid via tingling, from rough to smooth via matt, or from quavering to fine via dense… (Pierre Schaeffer, Treatise on Musical Objects, pp. 442–444)

This piece is about surfaces—the sounds of surfaces and the surface of sound. How sound is its surface, its very “soundness” inextricable from its textural and timbral qualities. I chose to consider this completely as an audiovisual piece, my hand in the composition coming mostly in terms of the evocativeness of the images—the textures of 6 grades of sandpaper—to which I ask the musicians to respond.

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During the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown of 2020, new music ensemble Decibel commissioned 21 artists to create scores using the Decibel Score Player—an app that facilitates time-synched scrolling graphic scores. The scores and footage of the individual members of the ensemble, each playing in their own homes, was then compiled into audiovisual pieces for online delivery. I was working on the research for Surface Friction at this time, and the Decibel commission offered the opportunity of present a creative expression of this thinking.

Credits

Decibel is Cat Hope (flutes / bass / composition / artistic director), Aaron Wyatt (viola / iOS programming), Tristen Parr (cello), Stuart James (piano / composition / programming / sound design), Louise Devenish (percussion) and Karl Ockelford (video).

https://decibelnewmusic.com/2-minutes-from-home/

Decibel's 2 Minutes from Home project has been generously supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, as part of the 'Create' fund.

Schaeffer, P. (1966). Treatise on musical objects: An essay across disciplines (C. North & J. Dack, Trans.). University of California Press.

Decibel New Music Ensemble (n.d.). 2 Minutes from Home. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://decibelnewmusic.com/2-minutes-from-home.