CHALICE WELL (2009)
for 8 digital soundtracks

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Chalice Well is a holy well situated at the foot of Glastonbury Tor in southwest England, thought to be originally the island of Avalon from Arthurian legend, and the site where Joseph of Arimathea placed the chalice known as the Holy Grail. According to legend, the Tor, a masculine symbol, is hollow underneath and the entrance to the underworld, guarded by the Grail. The well, on the other hand, is a symbol of the feminine aspect of deity, and its waters are believed to possess healing qualities.

This work takes the listener on an imaginary journey down into the well, passing through several cavernous chambers on its descent, filled with rushing and trickling water, including the chamber of the feminine spirit. The journey continues to the glass chamber, then to the gates of the underworld, only to be confronted by the image of the Grail, and finally coming to rest in the space where wind and water, the masculine and the feminine are combined.

Scenes:	The Well & Descent	Chamber of the Feminine	Glass Chamber & the Underworld	The Grail & Chamber of the Spirits
Production Score:	page 1, page 2	page 3, page 4	page 5, page 6	page 7
Time:	0:00	4:10	8:26	10:40
Audio:	Part 1	Part 2	Part 3	Part 4
Spectragram:	Part 1, Part 1a	Part 2, Part 2a	Part 3	Part 4, Part 4a

Mix Levels

Materials:

20 files, both short and long, were convolved with each other in various combinations using SoundHack to produce about 200 hybrids, each normalized with high frequency boost, and later EQ'd with fades added

I. Convolved with Granular Material

Original Source Materials	Fast Sine Grains	High Density Grains	Granular Texture	Expanding Texture
Consonants -1 octave	Cons-1*Fast	Cons-1*HiDens	Cons-1*Texture	Cons-1*Exp
Consonants -2 octaves	Cons-2*Fast	Cons-2*HiDens	Cons-2*Texture	Cons-2*Exp
Glassbreak			Glass*Texture
Locks	Locks*Fast	Locks*HiDens	Locks*Texture	Locks*Exp
Bubbles	Bubbles*Fast	Bubbles*HiDens	Bubbles*Texture	Bubbles*Exp
Splashes	Splashes*Fast	Splashes*HiDens	Splashes*Texture	Splashes*Exp
Well	Well*Fast	Well*HiDens	Well*Texture	Well*Exp
Trickle	Trickle*Fast	Trickle*HiDens	Trickle*Texture
Waterstream	Water*Fast	Water*HiDens	Water*Texture	Water*Exp

II. Convolved with Text and Vocal Material:  Thecla Schiphorst: "A well of flowing water", "A fountain of gardens"from Song of Songs; gated consonants from Norbert Ruebsaat, The Blind Man

Original Source Materials	Cons -1oct	Cons -2oct	A_Well*A_Well	A_Well*A_Well x2	A_Fountain*A_Fountain	A_Fountain*A_Fountain x2
Consonants -1 octave		Cons-1*Cons-2	Cons-1*AWell	Cons-1*AWell x2	Cons-1*AFount
Consonants -2 octaves	Cons-2*Cons-1		Cons-2*AWell	Cons-2*AWell x2	Cons-2*AFount
Glassbreak	Glass*Cons-1	Glass*Cons-2	Glass*AWell stereo		Glass*AFount stereo
Locks	Locks*Cons-1	Locks*Cons-2	Locks*AWell	Locks*AWell x2	Locks*AFount	Locks*AFount x2
Bubbles	Bubbles*Cons-1	Bubbles*Cons-2	Bubbles*AWell	Bubbles*AWell x2	Bubbles*AFount	Bubbles*AFount x2
Splashes	Splashes*Cons-1	Splashes*Cons-2	Splashes*AWell	Splashes*AWell x2	Splashes*AFount	Splashes*AFount x2
Well	Well*Cons-1	Well*Cons-2	Well*AWell	Well*AWell x2	Well*AFount	Well*AFount x2
Trickle	Trickle*Cons-1	Trickle*Cons-2	Trickle*AWell	Trickle*AWell x2	Trickle*AFount
Waterstream	Water*Cons-1	Water*Cons-2	Water*AWell	Water*AWell x2	Water*AFount	Water*AFount x2

III. Convolved with Water and other Sampled Material

Original Source Materials	Bubbles2 Bubbles1	Splashes Splash	Well	Trickle2	Trickle3	Rain	River	Waterstream	Glassbreak3 Glassbreak4	Locks
Consonants -1 octave		Cons-1*Splashes	Cons-1*Well	Cons-1*Trickle2	Cons-1*Trickle3			Cons-1*Water	Cons-1*Glass3 Cons-1*Glass4	Cons-1*Locks
Consonants -2 octaves		Cons-2*Splashes	Cons-2*Well	Cons-2*Trickle2				Cons-2*Water	Cons-2*Glass3 Cons-2*Glass4	Cons-2*Locks
Glassbreak	Glass*Bubbles	Glass*Splash	Glass*Well1		Glass*Trickle3	Glass*Rain	Glass*River	Glass*Water	Glass3*Glass4	Glass*Locks
Locks	Locks*Bubbles	Locks*Splashes	Locks*Well1 Locks*Well5		Locks*Trickle3	Locks*Rain	Locks*River	Locks*Water	Locks*Glass3 Locks*Glass4	Locks*Locks
Bubbles		Bubbles*Splash			Bubbles*Trickle3	Bubbles*Rain	Bubbles*River	Bubbles*Water	Bubbles*Glass3 Bubbles*Glass4
Splashes	Splashes*Bubbles2 Splashes*Bubbles1	Splashes*Splash Splashes*Splash-1oct	Splashes*Well	Splashes*Trickle2 Splashes*Trickle2-1oct	Splashes*Trickle3 Splashes*Trickle3-1oct	Splashes*Rain	Splashes*River	Splashes*Water	Splashes*Glass3 Splashes*Glass4	Splashes*Locks
Well	Well*Bubbles	Well*Splashes		Well*Trickle2 Well*Trickle2-1oct	Well*Trickle3 Well*Trickle3-1oct	Well*Rain	Well*River	Well*Water	Well*Glass3 Well*Glass4	Well*Locks
Trickle2			Trickle2*Well			Trickle2*Rain	Trickle2*River	Trickle2*Water Trickle2*Water-1oct		Trickle2*Locks
Trickle3			Trickle3*Well1 Trickle3*Well5					Trickle3*Water	Trickle3*Glass3 Trickle3*Glass4	Trickle3*Locks
Waterstream	Water*Bubbles2 Water*Bubbles1	Water*Splashes Water*Splash	Water*Well	Water*Trickle2 Water*Trickle2-1oct	Water*Trickle3 Water*Trickle3-1oct	Water*Rain	Water*River		Water*Glass3 Water*Glass4	Water*Locks

Source material provided by the World Soundscape Project (trickle, locks, river, rain), David Monacchi (bubbles, splashes, and well), and Damian Keller (glass break, waterstream)

Temple Bowl, transposed down a major 2nd, convolved with itself and transposed as follows:

convolved with itself

same transposed down 1 octave

same transposed down 2 octaves

same transposed up 1 octave

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