This work is the first in a series of pieces for instruments and live electronics that explore distortion across various levels of musical resolution.
Aside from normal amplification, the guitar signal is never processed in this piece. After three continuous movements, the performer puts down the guitar and picks up a loose guitar cable. The noise generated by pressing the tip of the cable is manipulated electronically—with both analog and digital processing—to conjure directed noise in the realm of a heavily distorted guitar.
This mimetic spectacle, a “guitar without the guitar,” investigates cross-modal and extra-musical influences on our perception of music and sound.