Enmeshed I and II

Details:
Enmeshed is a cycle of compositions for acoustic performers and live computer processing. Enmeshed I, for tenor saxophone
has received five performances: Sonorities Festival, Belfast, May 2005; GEM Festival, Huddersfield; Sonic Arts Network EXPO,
Manchester; International Computer Music Conference, New Orleans (Digital Jukebox); Huddersfield Contemporary Music
Festival, 2006. Presentations on Enmeshed include IRCAM Forum, Paris, October 2005, and the International Computer Music
Conference, New Orleans, November 2006. Enmeshed II, for piano was commissioned by Sarah Nicholls. In November 2007 it
will receive two performances: at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and in London (BMIC Cutting Edge Series-to
be recorded for BBC Radio 3)

Portfolio:
1)Scores
2)CD recordings.
3)‘Enmeshed: live in 3D fog~’, in the Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, New Orleans, 2006,
pp.13–16; ISBN: 0-9713192-4-3. of studio recording of Enmeshed I.
4)Copies of programmes.

Context:
The Enmeshed cycle results from research into how an acoustic performance can be fed into computer software as an
unbroken stream of sound and processed to create multi-layered contrapuntal textures enveloping the audience. The research
included exploring the potential of live use of the composer’s own fog~ object (see output 4) in conjunction with circular buffers.
The resulting shape of the work is articulated through varying ‘distances’ in many dimensions: timbral, temporal, spatial, pitch
and textural.
Spatialisation plays a significant role in the cycle. Enmeshed I was conceived and largely composed during a sabbatical period
working at Queen’s University, Belfast. The research investigated approaches to articulating a composition in 3D space with 24
independent channels and loudspeakers using the unique spatialisation facilities of the Sonic Arts Laboratory at SARC. The
cycle is currently being extended with a work for pitched percussion. The research underlying the cycle is presented at greater
length in the fully refereed paper in the portfolio.

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