by James Harley
Collaborator: Margaret Schedel  

Megamix Diary

first impressions
Meg Schedel and I discussed the possibility for collaborating and to each submit something to this Call. I prepared a field recording for her to work with and she sent me a soundfile of created sounds. My first impression was that the source sounds, while possibly of natural origin, had been filtered and otherwise manipulated to sound quite electronic. However, as I listened, I realized that the texture had an ebb and flow that seemed very natural and unpredictable. The “chaos” in the texture (densities, frequencies, amplitudes, panning) was something I responded to quite strongly.

further impressions
As I listened more, I started to hear the connection between this soundfile and referential works that I knew and much respected. One was Concret PH by Iannis Xenakis, with its stochastically varying densities of burning charcoal embers. The other was Dripsody by Hugh Le Caine, a piece that uses the highly resonant sound of a water drop, a similar sound to the primary source in Meg’s soundfile. 

challenges
Meg’s soundfile sounded both constructed and natural. As a musical response, I thought of how I could set off both of these aspects of her sounds and how I might also pay homage to the two historical works that I heard hinted at in her music. I decided to adopt two strategies. One was to add some natural sounds to the mix: rain, water lapping on a rocky shore, thunder. All of these sounds are rich and unpredictable, to varying degrees. The other strategy was to enhance the “constructed” aspect of the sounds. To that end, I added some processing, primarily different kinds of delay lines. One result I was particularly interested in was to add some “regularity” to the texture. The repetitions of “droplet” sounds makes the connection to Dripsody more explicit. 

additional thoughts arising from the working process
The addition of the thunder sound came later, in response to a gradual awareness of the limited registral emphasis and pointillism of the other sounds. My creative intuition led me to balance the original soundfile and the rain and water sounds I added to it with something that gave some presence to the low register and that was sustained, albeit in an irregular way. I also spent much time adjusting the processing to allow the overall texture to unfold in what seemed to be a natural way, creating an envelope of intensity that would work for the specific duration of the piece.  
 

James Harley is a Canadian composer presently teaching at the University of Guelph. He obtained his doctorate at McGill University in 1994, after spending six years in Europe. His music has been awarded prizes in Canada, USA, UK, France, Poland, Japan, and has been performed and broadcast around the world. A number of Harley's works are available on disc and his scores are primarily available through the Canadian Music Centre. He has been commissioned by numerous organizations in Canada and elsewhere. He composes music for acoustic forces as well as electroacoustic media, with a particular interest in multi-channel audio.
James Harley
 

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