When It Gives (2025)

When It Gives is an acousmatic work in two movements that traces the evolution of unstable sonic materials within immersive spatial environments. The title refers to the second movement, which explores the unease of a material on the verge of collapse. The composition incorporates sounds such as glass collisions, plucked cactus spikes, breaking polystyrene, running water, tin foil, prepared guitar strings, and synthesized tones. The first movement centers on an algorithmic system of evolving quartal trichords that form a harmonic field in flux. Microtonal textures emerge as descending glissandi, articulated from different spatial positions, intertwine and gradually darken before dissolving into the second movement. Here, the focus shifts to polystyrene, where a language of pre-breakage ‘cracks’ and ‘squeaks’ is explored, heightening the notion that something is about to give. These textures accumulate, amplifying tension until the material gives way, followed by the fragile aftermath of fractured pieces settling into silence. The work was shaped through specialized software integrating improvisation, microtemporality, harmonic evolution, and ambisonic spatialization, ensuring precise control over evolving sonic materials. These processes shape the two overlapping movements, leading listeners through a dynamic interplay of instability, rupture, and stillness.