Distant light pulsations depicts a surreal image, of the rhythm of mysterious lights. It’s left ambiguous to the performer and the audience as to what these lights mean, or represent. The sound of the vibraphone has always reminded me of one that is shrouded in mystery, and has the ability to put you into a trance. For this kind of piece, minimalism was necessary to evoke the kind of surrealism that surrounds this piece’s title. The work can be divided into three distinct sections (with smaller subsections embedded in-between). The first section uses polyrhythms to embrace the “weirdness” (for lack of better words) of the sound, while the second section embraces the mystery of the timbre of bowed vibraphone keys. The final section embraces both aspects and combines mallets and bowed soundworlds in order to create the resonances that I find incredibly interesting, unique, and fascinating in the instrument. (c.a. 5 minutes)
