Composition

Wadi Musa is a composition for quenas (Andean flutes), cello and physical models of maracas and clarinet. Given the South American nature of the instrumentation, performers, sound texture and style, the model of the maracas was chosen as a contrasting synthesized sound in the media part against live performers providing rhythmic and spatial contexts. Downbeats in the cello or the quena do not necessarily align to the percussion part but are rather juxtaposed with priority to the quena sounds. Different patterns and different sounds are created by the physical model and thus timbre is continuously changing throughout the composition by getting different flavors of maracas like cabasa, guiro and even tambourine and wind bells. In these sounds polyrhythms are the result of combinations somewhat chaotic between the durations, shake rate, seed quantity and resonances of the shell. Rhythmic patterns are inspired by thread styles in a South American hat called the Monteria hat.