Cyclo emerged out of the everyday ritual of the bicycle ride between my home and the studios where I was composing in Birmingham (UK). The sounds from my bicycle, the underlying rhythm of cycling, and the familiar sound spaces of the journey were an accompaniment to my life in England at the time. I decided to exploit this rich sound environment to create something that suggests both the high energy, rapid and harsh movement of cycling and the magic of the ‘journey.’ Cyclo is an abstract and magical sound world that contrasts and merges natural, mechanical, muscular, and delicate qualities. This ‘deconstruction’ and ‘reconstruction’ of the bicycle sound object create a new ‘something’ or object from source recordings of the original, leading to multiple real-world and abstract perspective juxtapositions (close observation, inner contemplation, and open soundscape). Cyclo is concerned with cycling and the journey as much as it is with the inner sound world and workings of the bicycle itself.

The term ‘cyclo’ is the combinational form of circle, cycle, and cyclic and is fundamental to the looping or turning nature of pedaling, breathing, wheels, gears, and the repeated cycle of the daily journey. The word ‘cyclo’ is also used in parts of South East Asia to refer to bicycle rickshaws (essentially unrelated to the piece although acknowledged through the incorporation of the gamelan tuning system in the treatment of some pitched material) and the cyclo driver.

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Cyclo was realized in 2003 at the Electroacoustic Music Studios of the University of Birmingham (UK) and premiered on March 8, 2003 during the “20/20 Re:Vision” series of concerts celebrating the 20th anniversary of BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre). Cyclo was awarded the 2nd prize at the 5th Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo (CIMESP ’03, Brazil).

Premiere

• March 8, 2003, 20/20 re:Vision: Present — Concert 2, CBSO Centre, Birmingham (England, UK)

Awards

• 2nd prize, International Electroacoustic Music Contest of São Paulo 2003, São Paulo (Brazil)