Composition involves moulding time as it elapses in an aesthetically pleasing way. But if we are to perceive time as something we can form and modify, and if time passing can become a unique aesthetic experience, then it has to materialise first, it has to be given a body and volume. In Nathaniel Haering and Cort Lippe's music this manifestation occurs with technical innovation and structural consistency. At the same time the acoustic phenomenon alludes in various ways to the composers’ affinity for the live electronics: Cimmerian Isolation (2016) for flute and live-electronics begins with a tremendous sound which is broken down and modified in the course of the piece. It is washed out, meaning in the interplay between the sound of the flute and the performer’s own primal uttering. It is replaced by succession of rhythmically and acoustically dissociated episodes, which, formally quite additive, explore extremes of instrumental expressiveness. Music for Flute and Computer (1994) by Cort Lippe, was composed at IRCAM, using the IRCAM Signal Processing Workstation (ISPW), a real-time digital signal processor and the software Max/MSP.
