Drifting Voices is a 3D electroacoustic composition exploring the deep connection between the human body and the ocean.
Life’s origins in the sea have left us with profound chemical affinities to the marine environment. This work reflects that connection by processing human voices and ocean sounds in almost chemical ways—analysing them into microscopic sonic particles and observing their interactions within the realm of microsound. Spectral textures are extracted, frozen, stretched, catalysed, and blended to explore their shared sonic characteristics.
The voice in the piece is that of artist Portia Lee, reading a poem about the sea written by the composer. Vocal recordings were captured using both a condenser microphone and a throat-mounted hydrophone, producing a rich, intimate texture that allows for extended processing techniques.
Throughout the piece, the voice—symbolising the presence of the human body—is deconstructed into intricate sonic particles and textures, moving beyond linguistic meaning. As the piece unfolds, the transformation of vocal material traces the body’s dissolution and expansion into the ocean, gradually merging with abstracted ocean field recordings. Ultimately, the distinction between voice and water blurs as body and ocean dissolve into a single, unified sonic entity.