Crossed Wires

Crossed Wires is an immersive composition for amplified viola, percussion (featuring vibraphone and glockenspiel), and electronics, commissioned by the Piedmont Duo.

The piece revolves around sounds associated with telephones, communication, and miscommunication, weaving a narrative that spans both historical and modern devices. It incorporates the auditory essence of antique phones, mid-century landlines, and contemporary cellphones. The soundscape includes clicks and beeps from picking up, setting down, or turning off phones; dial tones; telephones vibrating and ringing; busy signals; out-of-service messages; fax machines; customer service interactions; "hold music"; answering machines; and more.

Crossed Wires also delves into instrumental synthesis, exploring the timbral relationships between the themed sounds and the instrumental palette. Hundreds of string and percussion recordings are integrated with the communication-themed materials, layering textures and transforming the original recordings into instrumentally synthesized interpretations. This fusion creates a dynamic interplay between the organic and electronic, blurring the lines between traditional instrumentation and auditory imagery.