electrocd

Water Spirits

Elizabeth Hoffman

  • Year of composition: 2007-11
  • Duration: 10:41
  • Instrumentation: fixed medium
  • Publisher(s): Yul média
  • ISWC: T9247801510

Stereo

ISRC CAD501210012

  • 44,1 kHz, 24 bits

Close-mic’ed recordings of water are transformed in this piece through algorithms crafted by the composer to modify the microrhythmic and timbral detail of the sound surfaces. The algorithms rearrange or eliminate data, creating either statistically accurate but temporally jumbled waveforms or sequentially accurate but incomplete waveforms. The result is a slightly askew tactility of otherwise familiar sounds. “Water spirits” are mythological beings, but the reference here is to the materiality of the water itself. If it could speak, what might it say…

[xi-11]


Water Spirits was realized from 2007 through 2011 at the composer’s studio in New York City (NY, USA). An early version of this work premiered under the title The Twelfth Chapter on March 30, 2006 during the SEAMUS 2006 National Conference at the University of Oregon (Eugene, OR, USA).


Composition

Mastering