
Douglas O'Grady
Composer of acoustic and electronic music shaped through sound, structure, and transformation.
The Vermillion Rooster’s Ascension
for two riqs, metal bowls, and live processing
a collaboration with Greg Haynes
Performance at the 2024 New York Electroacoustic Music Festival
by Doug O'Grady and Greg Haynes
Notes
Embark upon a sonic odyssey as the Middle Eastern riqs, like enchanted djinns, converse with celestial metal bowls, forging a rhythmic alchemy through the crucible of electronic enchantment. The performers, alchemists of sound, traverse pre-composed rhythmic constellations, choosing their steps like ethereal dancers in a cosmic ballroom.
Within this otherworldly soundscape, a scarlet rooster, a symbol woven into the very fabric of the composition, rises from the aural horizon. Its crowing echoes in the resonant bowls, melding with the synthesized textures and the hum of the live drone. Together, they navigate the labyrinth of inverted realities, painting the air with hues that defy the mundane palette.
In this surreal journey, the performers become sonic sorcerers, conjuring rhythmic spells that intertwine with the cosmic dance of the vermilion rooster. As the metal bowls traverse the realms of electronic manipulation, they echo the riddles of constellations long forgotten, unveiling a symphony of paradoxes that transcends time itself. Welcome to a realm where sound and surrealism converge, and the red rooster rises as a harbinger of enchantment.