In early 2015, I was extremely frustrated by an increasingly prominent ‘trope’ that appeared to have emerged (and arguably still exists) within the field of electroacoustic music; the form of certain works appeared to rest on little more than the mere presentation of dissimilarity between two sets of materials and their subsequent tussle for dominance. Metallurgic set out to parody this trope.

I started by recording a wide range of metallic objects — in my mind, the sound of metallic objects had become an electroacoustic standard —, and I set about exploring my recorded materials with little concern for the inevitable clichés that would result. A sustained pitched sound was ultimately contrasted with various noise-based granular materials, thus establishing the kind of binary contrast similar to that which I was attempting to parody. To my surprise, it was extremely difficult, and enjoyable, to work with this binary.

The act of composition was every bit as complex and fascinating as my experience of composition more generally, and I completed the piece having developed a genuine and long-lasting respect for the very trope that I had set out to parody. The title of this work is as close to an electroacoustic ‘standard’ as I could muster.

[vi-18]

Metallurgic was realized in 2015 at the composer’s studio in Sheffield (England, UK) and premiered on November 1, 2015 in the Large Concert Hall of the Ural Mussorgsky State Conservatoire as part of the >SYNC.2015 festival in Yekaterinburg (Russia). Metallurgic was awarded the 2nd prize ex æquo at the >SYNC.2015 International Competition of Electroacoustic Music and Multimedia (Yekaterinburg, Russia, 2015).

Premiere

• November 1, 2015, >SYNC.2015 Gala Concert, Ural Mussorgsky State Conservatoire – Large Concert Hall, Yekaterinburg (Russia)

Awards

• 2nd prize ex æquo, Category B — Electroacoustic Music, >SYNC.2015, Yekaterinburg (Russia)