Baby Lexicon

for percussion quartet and electronics (2024)

I typed the word ‘baby’ into Splice, a sample library, and started scrolling through hundreds of different singers singing the word. It was like a little dictionary of ‘babies,’ so many variations of the same sound, kind of generic but also evocative in a weird way. I put them all in a sampler and started playing around with it - reminded me of those old school keyboards that had samples of people shouting ‘DJ’ and ‘C’mon!’ and other random things. Something so joyful and silly about being able to play with voices like that.

Commissioned by Nonclassical and first performed by Abstruckt (Elsa Bradley, Emma Arden, Angela Wai Nok Hui and Joe Richards) at Unit 58, London on July 12, 2024.