A Song for Sinking

ffmup (“free-form mash-up,” pronounced “phmup”) is a Princeton Music Department tradition, a free concert series presenting “noise, improvisation, electronics, acoustic mishmash, and all manner of great between-the-cracks music” since 2003. It was exposure to this kind of music as a grad student that, in part, rerouted me from the path of the decorous composer. I had a personal goal to do something on a ffmup show before I graduated. Well, I did it and this is it. I’m playing a Magnus Chord Organ in this set, accompanied by a tape track.

N.B. ffmup was often held in the Terrace Eating Club, where students sometimes played pool or pingpong in rooms adjoining the concert space. To neutralize those potential sonic intrusions, I incorporated similar sounds into the tape part of my piece.