programme note

In ochre song, I hoped to apply physical material as a metaphor for sound material. I was especially interested in exploring the concept of layers, both physical and sonic. How does this material react when in contact with another? How is this sound colour (or indeed our perception of it) impacted by its proximity to another? To that end, I established three main categories of ‘layers’ in ochre song: grainy, fluid, and earthy. These ‘layers’ are presented in a variety of configurations which reflect what I imagine would be the outcome of, for example, granular particles mixing with fluids, or how the ratio of one material to another would affect their resultant properties. The sonic gestures that represent these ideas are based on my own intuitive musical response to the material in question. For example, the log drum, temple blocks, and prepared harp strings could, in certain contexts, represent granular material, whilst slow, bowed glissandi in the double bass, or the sound of a friction mallet being drawn across the skin of a bass drum, may embody the ever-changing quality of the earth beneath us. ochre song also allowed me to revisit my earliest experiments in music-making from almost two decades ago when I would mix-and-match pre-recorded objects in a Digital Audio Workstation, building layers of sound one track at a time. The work’s horizontal elements (say, the structure) rely heavily on the established associations between gestures and colours across the roughly fifteen different sections that make up the work. Form, then, becomes a string for tying together this musical omnium gatherum.

— Njabulo Phungula