Oro rua rangi ki te whenua (double-tones between heaven and earth) was a collaboration with the then NZSM Composer-in-Residence Jerome Kavangh. Jerome is an expert performer on ngā taonga puoro, the indigenous instruments of Aotearoa New Zealand. There are many different materials used in these instruments—wood, bone, shell, flax, stone—and each puoro is individually handmade. There is no standardised tuning.
The instruments require significant breath control, and due to their handmade nature, have a complex spectrum, comprising many breath components, as well as a number of flickering harmonics or edge tones. In te ao Māori, these are known as ‘irirangi’, which are often seen as the presence of te reo wairua (the voice of the spirits).
The electronics are based around my custom-built spatialised granular synthesis engine called spindrift, as well as some of my spectral effects that can be brought into the mix as necessary.