In several recent pieces I have explored the idea of the co-existence of two musical worlds. In one time and pitch are articulated clearly and cleanly, as if on a grid, in the other things are blurred, unclear and constantly morphing. Fluence takes this idea and places the two worlds side-by-side, although the temporal grid in this case is treated as if it were elastic, constantly stretched and compressed.

In Fluence I was able to, for the first time, devise a system in which I could create a kind of 'real-time tape' music, constructing the electronic part from samples in a way that remains flexible in performance. Each gesture in the electronic part is constructed from a bank of over a thousand clarinet samples. Specific samples are almost never specified, rather the computer selects samples according to certain shapes and parameters, meaning that each time the electronic part is realised is slightly different.

I'm extremely grateful to Jonathan for his patience, hard work and dedication to the project.

Fluence was commissioned by Ergodos (ergodos.ie) with funds from the Irish Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.