Water Music
A grid formation of whole notes printed on a metal panel is submerged in the Pacific Ocean at low tide and photographed as the tide comes in. Incoming waves, ripples, and the resulting optical distortions and caustics, multiply, distort, resize, and reposition the notes to auto generate a new musical composition when overlayed onto a standard music staff. Musicians are instructed to play the tone suggested by the position of the note on the staff, the timing as determined by the location laterally on the staff, and amplitude as determined by the size of the note. Additionally, articulation and timbre are determined by the shape of the notation. This work was composed at Whaling Station Bay on Hornby Island, British Columbia.