Bouncing Ball


This idea operates without a fixed form, the only given, is the initial release of the balls when the piece begins. The piece resets randomly anywhere between 1 and 30 seconds without pause (other than the time it takes for the balls to fall to the ground after reset).

Within predetermined constraints, the white ball is designed to bounce at a random trajectory and disrupt the blue 'trigger' balls. The blue trigger balls are loaded with a handful of samples which get chosen at random. Overall, the blue trigger balls operate identically to each other (by triggering one of their loaded samples each time they collide with the floor). However, some of the samples chosen are individual hits and some are a series of notes, which can lead to overlapping sounds, building up thick textural layers.

This piece lacks space, and instead unashamedly produces a chaotic sonic experience with each sound element working independently. However, due to the sonic palette and chosen style of music, the five chaotic independent parts somehow fit together to create a single unified piece. From my standpoint the work offers a distorted glimpse at nomadism within music. There is no flinching or stiffening as the samples are triggered, the machine-driven piece is unapologetic and is simply doing what has been programmed.


Matt Mono 2023