Mud

for septet (flute, clarinet, saxophone, violin, ‘cello, percussion, piano), video, and electronics
premiered by [Switch~ Ensemble]

Mud is pretty magical stuff. It can transform just about anything into itself. Given enough time, it can support new life growing out of it again.

For this piece, I traced the migrations of dirt: metabolized in compost, filtered underwater by oysters, and airborne on wind and tree branches. I made field recordings underground, underwater, and on land. I analyzed and extracted pitches, textures, and rhythms to shape the musical material. I collaborated with scientist James Weiss who created video footage of microbial life in these sorts of everyday mud sources.

To start a conversation with mud, I planted a garden and fed it with my compost. I learned that plants respond well to sound, so I “toned” my garden, playing frequencies into the earth and recording responses. The ground murmured back with insect life, and the plants chirped with ultrasonic voices. In the piece, performers enter this conversation by interjecting and improvising with audio and video, expanding the dialogue between mud and organic matter.