Joshua D.
Tomlinson

Audible Desserts

Length: 3:28    Listen Now

I enjoy listening to people speak. The way they enunciate or don’t, the way some words melt right into the next, the way the voice emotively rises and falls. But one of my favorites has always been the sounds people make in between their words. A single paragraph of spoken dialogue can contain countless pops, smacks, and whistles. For me there’s a small sense of disappointment any time a speaker pauses and then resumes his thought without a single sound in between. I titled this piece Audible Desserts for two reasons. First, the pleasure I receive from these little sounds is the same pleasure I get when a waiter unveils a delicious dessert at my table. Secondly, these sounds make up the minority of people’s speech, and arguably are not as important as what they are actually saying (depending on who you are talking to, of course). If the content of a speakers’ words can be viewed as the entrée, then I believe these delightful sounds could be considered the dessert. Bon appetit!

New Compositions

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Instrumental

A Quasi-Friendly, Political Discourse Becomes Heated

Bassoon Quartet

Inspired by a bassoon composition competition, I started working on what became a bassoon quartet. The original sketches consisted of one bassoon with a line that seemed interesting to me at the time, the tango-like introduction heard in the first bassoon’s part. Measure by measure, the piece started to take on a character that reminded me of a political discussion I had with a friend last fall.

Electronic Media

At the Cellular Level

Length: 3:19     Listen Now

This piece is the result of getting to know the moog. As I experimented with the tool's capabilities, I made a lot of unintentional noise, which at first was simply unpleasant, but soon became fun material for this other-worldly piece. My wife suggested the title. She said it made her think of looking at music through a microscope and seeing it at its most basic level - the cellular level.

A History Lesson

Length: 12:07     Listen Now

A History Lesson started with a simple question: who was the first president to be audibly recorded? What started off as personal curiosity and an online history lesson soon became an idea for a piece. I wanted to create an audible timeline of the American Presidency, in the presidents’ own words. I do not believe that a person’s life work can be summed up in a few brief sentences, but in this piece brevity was imperative considering how many recordings there are, especially of more recent presidents. Beginning with President Obama, I work my way back through history to President Harrison, weaving a compilation of presidential triumphs, scandals, declarations, and assassinations.