WHALE is an electroacoustic piece for double bass, motion-sensing bow, and live interactive video projection.

Full performance at Sō Labs, February 2026

Program notes (from premiere at SPLICE Institute, Kalamazoo, MI, June 29 2024)

Whales communicate with each other in ways that we cannot possibly comprehend. I imagine that to even begin to understand the meaning behind their beautiful songs, we must attempt the impossible task of living the life of a whale. When I began developing my piece, WHALE, I was inspired by this idea of an unintelligible language that is particular to the one speaking it. As a bass player, I find that the movement of my bow is typically a byproduct of the sound I wish to create, with the majority of motion existing in service of that sound. In developing my own language system as a solo electroacoustic improviser, I wanted to extend the expressiveness of the motion of the bow off of the instrument. I developed the MagicBow3 for this purpose. Using data from the bow’s motion through space, the MagicBow3 digitally processes the sound of the bass in real time. I aim to create a language system that is particular to my experience playing the bass, one that draws parallels between the large, majestic beings of bass and whale.

Excerpt 1 (SPLICE Institute)

Excerpt 2 (SPLICE Institute)

Full Performance (SPLICE Institute)