Portfolio, Princeton University, 2023

Work Sample 1

Wayfaring Stranger

2022

FM transmitters, FM receivers, 3 channel sound

Wayfaring Stranger uses FM transmission to create a navigable soundscape where the audience may explore the terrain with FM receivers. As the audience moves through different zones of transmission, the sound dissolves into static before taking form again. One transmission plays various historical renditions of the American folk song “Wayfaring Stranger”. Another transmission contains synthesized and modulated starlings, pitched to the tune of “Wayfaring Stranger”. The last transmission is of modulated and synthesized starling calls over field recordings taken in New York City. Both bird species are considered highly invasive, despite both being brought to the states through New York for aesthetic reasons in the late 1800s and mid 1900s. The lyrics of the folk song may initially seem to reference the displaced and colonized species, but the audience too becomes the wayfaring stranger as they navigate the sonic terrain, guided by birdsong.

Work Sample 2

Apologue

2022

Cement, wood, metal, 8x8 channel live sound.

Apologue is an eight channel installation that utilizes feedback as its sounding source. The tone of the feedback is the fundamental frequency of each cement vessel, derived from the volume of the form. Physical bodies and voices introduce new overtones into the system, altering the pitches of the tones. The wooden cones act as directional microphones, funneling the sound from inside the four interior vessels upward to be played through the wooden speakers. Lowered tones of feedback are transduced through the four outer vessels in the system. The cones and shells reference platonic geometric forms, echoing the sonic content of the piece. Each viewer’s experience of the installation is unique, depending on their locality in space, as well as that of other’s in that shared place.

Work SAMPLE 3

Apple boxes, for one or two

2022

Cement, wood, transducers, piezo microphones

Apple Boxes is an improvisational sculpture that operates on feedback. The two individual components are cross-wired, so that when one object is agitated, the other vibrates and sounds. The performer(s) use their intuition to tune the feedback while reacting to the vibrations caused by the other instrument. The cement pieces reference the interior space of an apple box, while the wooden elements resemble pallets. The sculpture may be activated by engaging the pedals or through touch. When not being played, the sculpture hums softly to itself.