Automated Fault Extraction

for one or two performers
2019

This composition is the first of an ongoing series of works exploring the history and legacy of mining in the American West. The piece draws from existing research on mining and migration of Chinese-Americans in the 19th century, as well as modern-day advancements in seismic analysis.

Written for flexible instrumentation, its duration can be moderate, at 8-10 minutes, or long, at 25 minutes or more. Sonically, the work explores low-frequency harmonic interaction, utilizing a fixed set of pitch materials that are structured through musical gestures denoted in the score as “events,” “distributions,” and “extrapolations.” These sound forms and their resulting combinations reflect historical events, and also offer an abstracted re-telling of the many stories we will likely never know.

Premiere August 2019, Temescal Art Center, Oakland & Center for New Music San Francisco (Matthew B. Creer, electronics & Adam Fong, electric bass and electronics)