Crosstalk(2023), for ensemble and electronics


A short excerpt of Crosstalk

This piece explores analogue radios’ expressive and performative capabilities. I was particularly interested in the role radios could play in an instrumental ensemble. I was also interested in how their sonic world, charged with cultural references, could integrate and mix with the instrumental parts. The signals sent to the radios contain fragments of words, electromagnetic noises, fragmented old recordings, and synthesised voices.In a way, the radios in this piece become hybrid instruments, bridging the gap between the ensemble and the electronics.

The title of the piece refers to the phenomenon in electronics in which a signal is disturbed by the electromagnetic field of another adjacent signal.

Crosstalk was commissioned by Schallfeld Ensemble funded by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

These are the radios I used to sample and create part of the electronics. For this example, I recorded a short improvisation with the sound material used in the piece. The electronics (samples, automated processes, etc.) and live electronics (real-time transformations of the instrumental sounds) were programmed in Max/MSP.

A few pages from the score