listen/watch
The Australian Way
Trumpet: Uma Volkmer
Saxophone: Aaron Cottle
Flute: Maddy Avagliano
In 2019 droughts dried the land barren.
In 2020 raging bushfires spread through Australia.
In 2022 Australia faced flash flooding unlike anything seen before.
Despite catastrophic events, the government fails to do their part to help the environment and our suffering country. As an individual I feel a weight of guilt, depression and anxiousness as I see Australia fall apart around us. The Australian Way is a piece dedicated to Australia. It addresses the neutral phase of the El Niño South-Oscillator (ENSO) where winds blow the warm moist air and push warmer surface waters towards Australia where atmospheric convection causes clouds and rain, before we return to the wind in a never-ending cycle.
A Bird's-Eye View
Novation keyboard: Maria Stadnik
iRig Pad + Novation Keyboard: Samuel Jeon
Grand Piano: Silvina Wong
SCINTILLA
Electric Guitar: Adam Crutcher
A Bird’s-Eye View combines MIDI keyboards and a grand piano to create an ethereal soundscape of being in the bush. Over the years I have become increasingly aware of the birds singing along as I play piano with my front door open. As they chirp along with me I have
become attuned to the beauty of their song, and in an odd way I feel connected with them.
When I enter the bush I notice their melodies that we hear so often, yet choose to ignore. In combining grand piano with electronics, I explore the concept of a human and bird communicating through music with the aid of technology. Whilst technological advances has
its downfalls, it can help conserve our wildlife. Recently conservationists are using artificial intelligence to aid Australian birds by matching and mimicking their song. The electronics and MIDI keyboards are symbolic of the technology that can aid humans and birds
to communicate and help one another. Through technology and music, I hope that we Australians take more care towards our native birds and pay attention to the melodies they share with us throughout the day.
“A tiny trace or spark of a specified quality or feeling: a scintilla of doubt.”
-Oxford Dictionary of English
SCINTILLA was created solely from electric guitar samples, showing how a fragment of sound can be extended into a technological sound world you would not have thought possible. Taking these samples, I titled the piece SCINTILLA as these traces and sparks in the fixed media create a feeling of wonder for the listener. Society has changed the way it listens to music. It is downloadable and accessible at any time and any where. Through SCINTILLA I explore the concept of how technology has expanded our listening today, for the better or worse… The electric guitar part is unlike the stereotypical roles and parts it gets to play. In composing something gentle and ethereal I wanted to represent the electric guitar in a different light, creating sounds unheard before.
Bangkok Minitour
