Christopher Douthitt "Glyptic Channels II"

The piece is a sonic tribute to the feeling of contemplation and proto-thought. A bed of natural sound reimagines The Museum of Human Achievement as both an interior and exterior experience, which the combined ensemble joins to create waves of complex, glowing harmony. Stretches of wandering attention give way to moments of intense focus; inarticulate voices suddenly find themselves making sense.

Originally performed in Princeton’s 277-foot long university chapel, “Glyptic Channels II” is adapted for the specific instrumental forces and skills of composer / pedal steel guitarist Bob Hoffnar, along with Hoffnar’s and Douthitt’s network of Austin collaborators. The ensemble will include traditional acoustic instruments (horns, contrabass, and percussion), newly invented electronic instruments (the Standing Wave Orchestra’s “metallocean,” which evokes the liquid sound of resonant metals bowed as if the were strings), and fixed media sound design (field recordings, voices). In this soundscape of juxtapositions, Bob Hoffnar’s pedal steel will seek liminal spaces to bring to the fore.