Timepieces

Mark Rushton has produced an acousmatic musical soundtrack for Oyoram’s “TimePiece” – the 800 sq ft, 162-LED panel, art installation of an animated clock that’s mounted on the north face of the Fitch Building at 304 15th St in downtown Des Moines.

“Timepieces” contains 24 three-minute tracks, each representing an hour.

Acousmatic music is meant to be heard over speakers. Other terms that classify it include soundscaping, ambient drift, musique concrete, and use of syncopated rhythms. It draws from musical ideas related to percussion-resonance, friction, oscillation, swaying, rebound, flux, flexion, swirls, and color.

In the music, you’ll hear what sounds like the ghosts of bells, fleeting birds, idling trains, distant industrial sounds, humming of wires, echoed tabla, drawn-out drones, electronic dreams, percussive raindrops, murky rhythms, shimmering waves, shuffling undercurrents, glitched poly-rhythms, steam-infused vintage drum machines, and muted blurbs. The tracks flow with continuity.

Rushton envisions the soundtrack being used while viewing or being near the TimePiece art installation, so it will be available via Bandcamp and also all major streaming platforms for mobile listening. Or as a separate listening experience in other environments.