Cosmos is a composition for electronic synthesizers, samplers, and effects units. Designed for live solo performance, the radio baton and computer keyboard are used as controllers in conjunction with custom-built software. Work on the composition began in January 1997, and by July of the same year was completed and performed at Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) Summer Concert.
Cosmos marks a new direction for me as a composer on two counts. Firstly, the opportunity of owning and being able to customize my equipment has been very important and stimulating experience, as right down to the choice of synthesizers, I have been able to direct everything towards my own creative vision. Secondly, I have realized the long awaited desire to become the performer of my own music; enabling me to communicate directly with an audience, and circumventing the hitherto necessary layer of interpretation in performances by other musicians. While it seems appropriate that my first 'outing' as a composer/performer should be a solo work, I am interested in the idea of including other artists/musicians in future works. Although technically it would be possible to have others perform Cosmos in my absence, at the present time, I have no interest in supporting this, and as a result, the notion of producing a 'score' which might enable this to happen, has not been considered.
The material exists essentially as the output of my computer software, as determined by input from the radio baton and computer keyboard. Although in theory, the structure of the composition is entirely variable, it nevertheless exists in a clear and fixed form in my mind, and while minor details may vary and evolve from performance to performance, the overall form--an overlapping succession of four main sections--is unlikely to change.