Charcoal VI [2017]
for amplified double-bell trumpet, 4-channel speaker spatialisation

Charcoal VI is a work for solo amplified double-bell trumpet (with no mouthpiece) and four speakers surrounding the audience. Four small microphones are secured onto the instrument in locations where air rushes past (inside both bells and outside the open 1st and 2nd valve slides. Each microphone’s signal is sent to each of the four speakers, with the pressing of the valves (1st, 2nd, and the bell-switching valve) controlling which microphone/speaker is activated – from one at a time to all four simultaneously, and any combination thereof. These air sounds amplify the natural resonance of the trumpet’s tubes and they are modulated by delicate articulation techniques (tongue, teeth, lips, breath, throat, diaphragm). The lack of a mouthpiece (blowing straight into the instrument) allows for heightened presence of various articulations, sibilants, and the harmonic shaping of air sounds.