Donovan Andrews

There are five concepts that primarily influence my work as a composer: Context, delicacy, spaciousness, recycling, and interaction. At least one of these is found in each of my works.

Context – When observing the concept of noise, it can be defined as spikes encompassing the entire spectrum of frequencies. When you take away these various recurring and spontaneous frequencies, you can begin to make out sounds or timbres. Conversely, continually adding sounds in a performance setting has the potential to bring out noise, both in a literal, technical sense and in a subjective sense. Noise, whether it be the two types I described or the noise that is considered “musical,” can be interpreted differently due to an individual’s social, cultural, and physical context.

Delicacy – A delicate performance, to me, is the most captivating one. I find that delicacy can be defined by the quietness and silence of a performance. Both of these qualities have both a gravitational and buoyant nature to them.

Spaciousness – A soundscape is appealing to my personal interests as a composer and a listener. I am fascinated by the idea that a musical landscape has the potential to envelop, cover, and hug an audience member. I refer to the visual arts for reference to this and the capabilities of mastering hundreds to thousands of brushstrokes to create the notion that something is there. This explores a sort of liminal and ambient space of music that I think is not explored nearly enough.

Recycling – Recently, I have begun experimenting with found objects. Due to personal beliefs, I take particular interest in utilizing unused objects and nature objects (given that they don’t harm any living things). The sounds that you can create from these objects that most people don’t often appreciate are a way for me to bring these things into the limelight and provide an opportunity for contemplation on the audience’s behalf.

Interaction – The interaction of elements is essential to music. I attempt to find ways to get performers or audience members to interact with the music, environment, or others as a way of finding themselves fully within the music. One of the most prominent features of my works is the utilization of performer’s choice, in which this concept is exhibited.

I am obsessed with the idea of context.

I work towards seeing how much I can take away or provide to a listener to the point where they consider what they are listening to as music. If I provide layers of melodic lines to a listener, at what point does it become noise? The music could mean something entirely different to each individual that could be affected by a physical influence or something more abstract and non-physical, where someone has more tolerance for unconventional and experimental music, which makes an experience of listening to music like that more enjoyable.

I strive to create an enjoyable experience for at least one group involved in a performance: the performer(s) or the audience. For performers, I enjoy providing open-endedness in what I write to provide a chance for performers to take control, as opposed to me telling them exactly what I want them to do. For an audience, the term “enjoyable” is far more subjective due to the statement mentioned above. However, I like to write more meditative works that are, at the very least, entertaining to me and, by extension, entertaining to an audience.

Much of what I write is influenced by so many other mediums. This influence also creates a desire to recreate what can be found in other creative endeavors. I find it interesting how a photo of a meadow can be as meaningful as a novel, how a novel can express words the way a painting expresses through brush strokes, and how a painting can create a liminality that music invites through sound.