Jabberwocky

Program Note: This piece was composed under the tutelage of Dr. Michael Miller as an exploration of the interaction between voice and electronics. Though I had worked with voices and electronics both in isolation, this piece allowed me to lend the narrative properties of the spoken word – in this instance provided by a dramatic vocal interpretation of Lewis Carroll's  Jabberwocky by my friend and colleague Nicholas May – to my technical knowledge of synthesis and sound design. I aimed to create timbrel motifs to accompany narrative elements of the poem. Metallic gestures from the Vorpal Blade and harsh, vocal square waves from the Jabberwock sit atop a cheesily rendered, science fiction influenced soundscape to create a sonic environment that lends a different interpretation of a poem that I had grown up reading.

Fun Fact: I had not heard Ambrosia's "Mama Frog" (which features a reading of "Jabberwocky" amidst some killer Jazz Fusion) before writing this piece, but it was inspired by a similarly fantastic piece of 70's Prog Rock: Utopia's "Singring and the Glass Guitar (An Electrified Fairy Tale)." 

To hear Jabberwocky, I have provided a private SoundCloud link. If you would like an audio file, please email me.