In my work, I focus on the techniques of producing sound in order to find the material I look for. The physical aspect of performance, the contact between the musician and the instrument, is the primary source of the musical substance. By exploring the player-instrument relationship I’m able to work with sound-qualities directly, which is very important, as it is through the quality of sound that certain energies / vibrations can be articulated, and through which the process can be established during composing and then perceived during listening.

Maintaining a close focus on the instrumental techniques has led me to writing pieces in which I generally try to bring out a wide variety of sound-types out of each instrument I work with. In order to achieve this, I am interested in developing musical materials that involve an intensity of playing, so that the individuality of single instrument can be asserted through its rather active behavior. For this reason, my works use mostly small numbers of instruments, usually between 1 and 5.

The key-word in my music is: process. This applies in a dual sense: composing a piece is a process, and process is also the unfolding of sound that a piece presents. What it means is that I do not pre-plan my pieces, but gradually establish the continuity from one moment to the next by listening to the material to tell me where it wants to go next. As a result, a piece presents a process that is at the same time a record of its formation (as opposed to realisation of a pre-planned design).

The most fundamental idea that I explore in my processes is instability. This results from the fact that there are multiple sound-qualities interacting, both between two or more instruments as well as within an individual instrument. The instability is the outcome of the degree of difference between the sound-qualities that emerges during their interactions, as no two separate sound-qualities are exactly identical.

Within the musical material that I establish, I’m always interested to find the smallest degree of difference, or the smallest step that there is between any components of sound (for instance, tiny durational differences). This can be explored in various ways. In my current project, for instance, I work with very small / short articulations, in order to come close to that inner limit. Once the smallest step is identified, I can develop an in-depth awareness of a wide range of available sound-qualities.  

Generally I tend to avoid working with systems and developing frameworks for my compositional approach. I’d say that intuition is the most resourceful and complex system.