Reflexes (1961) for electronic soundtracks derived from a Burmese drum

Carrying a Burmese drum I presented myself in 1961 at the STEM (‘voice’) Studio for Electronic Music of the State University of Utrecht, which later became the Institute of Sonology. It was my intention to compose a piece using the musical possibilities of the drum and those of the STEM studio. At this time I met the dancer and choreographer Elio Pomare, who studied with Martha Graham, and I decided to make a version of Reflexes for him. He danced to my music in the Netherlands and the United States.

(from the sleeve notes of the CD Looking Ears 1)

The sound source used here is a Burmese drum. Of all the many possible ways of treating sound in the studio, this piece materialized with a drum and the sounds it produced, which were subsequently manipulated in the studio. The work consists of an arch of stacked edited sound, ultimately returning to the sound source of ‘the drum’. After a rhythmic fragment in which bits of noise are also used, this study concludes with a short, fierce drum dance.

(from the liner notes to the LP Collage resonance, ca. 1966, EFC 2501)