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LONGSHORE DRIFT is about slow change and how time reshapes what we think is solid. The title refers to the process of distributing sand along a shoreline and reshaping a coast over time—a process that mirrors the musical structure of the piece, where rhythms, textures, and harmonies shift gradually and often imperceptibly.

 

Written for the Eudaimonia flute quartet and electronics, each movement explores a slightly different approach to a technique I call “drifting,” based on microtiming studies where the main pulse is divided into unusual and fine subdivisions of 56 or 60 parts. These divisions allow the electronics to move subtly against the flutes, creating grooves that stretch, warp, and realign in ways that feel both mechanical and deeply human. Unlike traditional phasing techniques of early minimalism, with drifting, individual notes can drift independently, opening space for intricate microtiming and rhythmic counterpoint. The result is a dynamic interplay between human time and machine time. 

 

The electronic palette is deliberately minimal—basic sine and saw waves and shakers. These elemental textures provide a backdrop for the flutes to weave through dense and lush chromatic harmonies. The resulting textures evoke sounds from the Atlantic world. This wasn’t planned, exactly, but rather emerged naturally, as if the rhythmic language itself brought those connections to the surface.

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Produced by David Kirkland Garner

Recorded March 14, 2025 at The University of Mississippi

Recorded by Jeffrey Reed, Taproot Audio Design

Edited by David Kirkland Garner

Mixed and Mastered by Jeffrey Reed, Taproot Audio Design

Cover Art by David Kirkland Garner