Entry 5: Charles Dodge – The days are ahead

Using speech synthesis is unique in regards to the way that time can be stretched and compacted so clearly, and I believe Dodge employed this very well espcially in regards to the element of stretching. The flow of time in this piece was very interesting primarily in the ammount of variance in the flow in relation to the limited ammount of material. I felt Dodge utilized his limited material much better than in the previous listening I did, and generally brought more contrast to his ideas. This pertains not only to the element of time, but as well with textures and rhythm. I was impressed the ammount of contrast he managed to bring to the work and I really liked how he moved between these different ideas. Dodge was very skillful in how he built and utilized momentum with his ideas, and the way he used these momentums in making sudden changes in the time and textures of the piece was very well done. Needless to say, I feel this piece has a good sense of ebb and flow which can mainly be attributed to Dodge’s crafty manipulation of the speech synthesis. I particularly like the atmospheres he creates in the sections with the elongated text and stretched feel of time as the flow of time seems to be melting at these points, and despite the chaotic nature of these very ideas they somehow come off in a rather contained manner. Very intriguing piece this one is. The nights are catching up with me, later.