Discords

Discords (ca. 9 minutes 30 seconds) is a fixed media work for 3D audio, with playback over multi-channel speaker array, guitar amplifier, and laptop speakers. It was composed in 2018 as part of my PhD studies at the University of North Texas. The sound sources for Discords include various “noise” materials. Analog electrical noise is derived from an electric guitar and amplifier, digital noise recorded with a physical modeled flute, man-made noise from a water cooled power plant, recordings of cymbals, and noise from nature consisting of calls from over one hundred species of birds. The subjective nature of noise is explored through the juxtaposition and complementation of these various elements. Much of the spatialization in the work derives from the composer’s software VRSoMa, an application for designing spatial audio within virtual reality.