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wt_

Adrian Moore

Programme notes

The five pieces of this cycle all had working titles (“wt”) that represented the sounds recorded, either in nature or in the studio. The underscore is, for me, a means of joining words (snake_case), indicating hierarchy and giving stress to the word itself. I will rarely write a filename with spaces so I’m very used to underscores, hyphens and camelCase. A single leading underscore also resonates with computer coding which interests me enormously (though I am still learning), especially when it delivers interesting sounds! Hence the titles of five of these pieces are “wt_primarySoundSource.”

wt_ceramics, wt_birds and wt_metals began with very productive recording sessions. Thanks to Mario Cáceres for his assistance in recording a large ceramic plant pot, a bird whistler, and metal sheets.

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Works in this cycle

wt_ceramics

Sounds were drawn from a ceramic pot which was played extensively during recording in the studio. It was also played outside with added environmental context. Techniques of granulation and filtering were used to explore the sounds further. It is gentle in form with some dark undertones.

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wt_ceramics was realized in 2024 at the composer’s studio in Sheffield (England, UK).

Premiere

  • September 28, 2024, Concert 2, St Andrew’s Church, Leicester (England, UK)
  • Year of composition: 2024
  • Cycle: wt_
  • Duration: 7:34
  • Instrumentation: stereo fixed medium
  • ISRC: CAD502510002

wt_birds

An imaginary forest with environmental sounds and a bird whistle. It is a very common trope to contrast the real with something fake or synthesized so that an unreal situation can be constructed through sound manipulation.

[ix-24]


wt_birds was realized in 2024 at the composer’s studio in Sheffield (England, UK).

Premiere

  • March 27, 2025, Composing (with) Systems: Concert 2, Drama Studio — The University of Sheffield, Sheffield (England, UK)
  • Year of composition: 2024
  • Cycle: wt_
  • Duration: 7:02
  • Instrumentation: stereo fixed medium
  • ISRC: CAD502510003

wt_glass

A “Health_and_Safety_breaking” glass-rub session led to sounds as difficult to work with as the whiteboard pens I recorded back in 1995-96 for Study in Ink (1997). The pitches were quite “thin”; the noisier sounds just didn’t transform to the degree that I wanted. However the noisier sounds (pressing hard on the rim of the glass) were quite surprising given the size of the wine glass used.

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wt_glass was realized in 2024 at the composer’s studio in Sheffield (England, UK).

  • Year of composition: 2024
  • Cycle: wt_
  • Duration: 3:27
  • Instrumentation: stereo fixed medium
  • ISRC: CAD502510004

wt_metals

Two metal sheets were played (rubbed, scraped and flexed) and then manipulated. Perhaps the most obvious points where manipulation is audible is towards the last third of the piece where something “regular” appears. It almost sounds as though someone is playing the sheet with sticks like a cymbal. Scraping the metal sheet gave rise to some nice resonances, often inharmonic. It was often best leaving these untreated save for editing, equalization and mixing.

[ix-24]


wt_metals was realized in 2024 at the composer’s studio in Sheffield (England, UK).

Premiere

  • September 28, 2024, Concert 2, St Andrew’s Church, Leicester (England, UK)
  • Year of composition: 2024
  • Cycle: wt_
  • Duration: 10:06
  • Instrumentation: stereo fixed medium
  • ISRC: CAD502510005

wt_voices2

A companion to Voices in the Dark (2023), perhaps more textural in style.

[ix-24]


wt_voices2 was realized in 2024 at the composer’s studio in Sheffield (England, UK).

  • Year of composition: 2024
  • Cycle: wt_
  • Duration: 5:22
  • Instrumentation: stereo fixed medium
  • ISRC: CAD502510006