Hoodoos was composed from sound materials recorded along the Hoodoo Trail in Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains of Western Canada. It is concerned with contrasting states of dynamic, fluidity, stasis, and kinesis. Accordingly, the sound of ice is present in frozen, cracking, melting, and shattering forms. Water coalesces into murky icy depths, drips and freely flows. Wood creaks, smoulders, breaks, and grows. Everything stirs, from the microscopic to the larger scale. The snow is unstable- avalanches and landslides are frequent. The great fluctuations of spring bring great change to the mountain valley- the quality (and quantity) of light evolves and accompanies growing activity and tension as the environment is released from its winter freeze and darkness. Hoodoos also refers to unique geological formations found in the Badlands regions of North America that are highly eroded spires of sedimentary rock, alien and exotic in appearance. Hoodoos was composed for the Flux Sound Diffusion System developed by the composer to allow for greater variability in the live performance of fixed-media works.

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Hoodoos was realized in 2007 during studio residencies at The Banff Centre of the Arts (Canada), the ZKM (Germany) and the GRM (France), and premiered on November 2, 2007 during the MANTIS Festival 2007: Novars Launch in the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall of the Martin Harris Centre of The University of Manchester (UK). Thanks to the Research Leave Scheme of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Premiere

• November 2, 2007, MANTIS Fall Festival — Novars Launch: Concert 1, Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall — Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama — The University of Manchester, Manchester (England, UK)