A Landscape is the Sum of Two Landscapes

This piece is inspired by the idea that the superposition of two relatively simple things can create a single more complex thing.  As shown in the video, the superposition in the upper left corner forms the core of the piece, which is transformed and manipulated in various ways throughout its course.  I was very inspired by Steve Reich's work, especially his piano phase music, which makes similar use of this kind of superposition between hands.  I don't see this piece as fully complete, but I am happy with this particular exploration of the ideas. 

Performed and recorded by Leif Haley at Goodenough College, London; Contemporary Music Concert (June 2024). 

A Turing Test

A Turing Test was performed at Word of Mouth 2022, a collaboration between Binghamton University composers, musicians, and poets.  It is a setting of Cole Depuy's poem of the same name.

Composition: Leif Haley | Poetry: Cole Depuy | Singer: Lex Bonner | Piano: Joel Harder | Cello: Zachary Sweet | Percussion: Leif Haley | Conductor: Daniel Thomas Davis

An Exercise in Algorithms

Two interlocutors discuss the construction of a piece which emerges in real time, changing in accordance with their decisions.  They are aware of their own involvement, but are incapable of escaping from it (and from the trajectory of time), creating tension between their metafictional power and the inevitable consequences of their compositional decisions, which begin to affect their speech as well, circling back to manipulate every part of the soundscape.  Various reordering algorithms are employed to manipulate musical material originating from simple impulses, experimenting with structure and arrangement.  In the end, the interlocutors struggle to find accordance, because their piece is at cross-purposes with itself.  What is most interesting for the composition is the maximum deployment of ordering algorithms.  What is most interesting for the listener is the development of beautiful material.  The matter of what constitutes a productive operation versus an arbitrarily complex operation remains an open question. 

Composed and performed by Leif Haley, primarily with SuperCollider, Ableton Live, and Microsoft PowerPoint (visuals). 

Alien Planet 2

A sequel to my earlier piece, Alien Planet, on account of having leftover sonic material that I didn't know what to do with and which wouldn't fit into the first piece. As before, the soundworld began with ramshackle PVC-pipe bass-flutes, sometimes modified with a drinking-straw double reed blown into a resonating cavity, all of which was heavily distorted and processed almost to the point of unrecognizability.  I like that no matter what I do to it, there's still a kind of breathiness and overtoney quality that doesn't completely disappear. 

This piece is an exploration of electroacoustic sound, designed to be both experimental and cinematic; to tell a story by its soundworld.