My new electronic music piece, “Whispers of Dust and Sand,” will be premiered at the WOCMAT & TCMA Concert on December 22.

On December 22, at the WOCMAT conference concert, I presented my purely electronic composition, “Whispers of Dust and Sand.” This piece utilized AI-generated sound materials to replace traditional recorded samples, which were then transformed and processed using techniques such as granular synthesis and a custom-designed spectral delay effect created in Max/MSP. After the processing and refinement, I was quite satisfied with the resulting sound.

Interestingly, the concert’s poster and animated video poster were also designed by me using AI tools. In the future, I plan to pair this composition with visuals created through AI tools, which might make the piece even more intriguing.

Program Notes for Whispers of Dust and Sand:

This electronic music composition is inspired by the Buddhist verse:

“The Bodhi tree is not a tree, the mirror is not a stand. Fundamentally, there is nothing, so where can dust alight?”

as well as the Biblical phrase:

“Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.”

Dust and sand symbolize the ephemeral ripples of events that arise due to various causes and conditions. Since “fundamentally, there is nothing,” all conflicts and entanglements carried by drifting sand will eventually return to nothingness.

The piece primarily employs granular synthesis and spectral delay techniques to deconstruct and defamiliarize sounds such as piano tones and metallic percussions. These transformed sounds are then reorganized according to the design of the music’s tension and structural needs.

• The piece begins with delicate metallic sounds accompanied by delay and reverb effects, along with a sustained background tone, creating a dreamy and ethereal atmosphere.

• The middle section transitions into an auditory imagination of turbulent flying sand and stones, represented by fragmented sounds swiftly moving through space.

• In the latter half, the piece is characterized by a dense and restless rhythm, primarily derived from piano tones transformed through sound manipulation.

      • Finally, the work returns to the dreamy atmosphere of the beginning, featuring fragmented metallic sounds and sustained tones, fading out gradually as the tension diminishes and the volume recedes, concluding the piece.