Composition

Mismatch Negativity, 2019-2021

The sounds of a schizophrenic’s mind

In conversation, schizophrenia is primarily characterized by delusions, hallucinations, grandiosity, and disorganized thought. All of which contribute to the stigmatization of schizophrenics. However, it has been my experience that more often, a schizophrenic displays negative symptoms of slowed thinking, limited emotion, poverty of speech, and loss of motivation. Furthermore, a schizophrenic may spend several years within the prodromal stage of the disease, before their first psychotic episode. In this stage, symptoms of fatigue, depression, anxiety, apathy, mood swings, and poor attention, are displayed. Upon receiving antipsychotic medication, the negative symptoms of a schizophrenic are often exacerbated. Although patients report feeling better, they often display exaggerated symptoms of depression, fatigue, and poor attention.

The Mismatch Negativity auditory electroencephalographic (EEG) test, used extensively in Dr. Steven Siegel’s lab, has been shown to accurately predict psychotic episodes, and is used as a biomarker for schizophrenia. The test consists of repeated auditory tones followed by a tone of a deviant pitch, duration, amplitude, and/or timbre. Healthy individuals respond to the deviant tone, with a measurable change in EEG signal, at a particular timepoint following the stimulus; hypothesized to represent an error in prediction. In a schizophrenic patient, this change in the EEG auditory event-related potential, at the deviant tone, is attenuated. This predictive error response, or lack thereof, occurs regardless of where the individual’s attention is placed.

I use a string quartet to represent the mind of a schizophrenic, while replicating Mismatch Negativity auditory tests. In the first movement, I represent a schizophrenic in the prodromal stage, the first stage of the disease. As sound enters the ear, and vibrates the bones of the inner ear, propagating through the anatomy of the ear, it is translated into neural impulses. It is at this point, where a healthy individual and a schizophrenic differ. In this piece, I propose a mechanism by which a schizophrenic’s mind justifies a mismatched tone, in the test, by prioritizing the neural circuitry of their own ideas and beliefs, over the neural impulses of current environmental stimuli. This proposed imbalance in the salience of the environmental state and an individual’s own ideas and prior beliefs, may help to conceptualize hallucinatory and delusional behavior. The composition suggests a transformation of environmental stimuli (electronics), into neural signals (strings), to be mixed with the neural sounds of the individual’s own ideas and prior beliefs. The composition represents these shifting neural noises of a schizophrenics mind, while, at times, representing the dulling effects of anti-dopaminergic, antipsychotic medications. While the piece explores the pejorative term of “psychotic”, it largely utilizes tonality, and lyricism; perhaps, suggesting something else. The listener observes and, at points, participates in the mismatch negativity test, as the stimuli of the test drift in and out of focus. The stimuli presented in the piece, do not require the attention of a listener; a prediction error may be triggered regardless of where a listener’s attention is placed. A listener may be left to question their own responses to the stimuli, as they try to pick out patterns of the mismatch negativity test.

Menorca, 2019

A record of a forbidden relationship that formed in an impossible way, between two artists. An initial irresistibly sweet, yet timid, connection, went on to feel complex, insecure, and uncertain. After much disturbance, it returned to a familiar peaceful and secure state. There is a mix of excitement, in sharing the relationship with others; and turmoil, once it is shared.

Often, relationships can be difficult for family and friends to accept, and may further go against particular religious beliefs. The better place that relationships bring people to, in their love, beauty, simplicity, and feeling of belonging, is good enough for some.  When representing the beauty in a relationship through sound, I was reminded of a trip to the Balearic Island of Menorca, the neighboring Island to that of Frédéric Chopin and his wife, George Sand’s, romantic journey. Droning sounds of boats, and watery piano sounds are explored.

Gringard’s Nocturne, 2015

A musical take on the “method of loci”

This piece is one of a set of “subject etudes”, that I used to relate concepts in my college curriculum, to music, as a way of improving technique, and committing material to memory. This piece, written in 2015, represents a particular series of organic chemistry reactions, one of the most important being the Grignard reaction—one of very few carbon-carbon bond forming reactions available to organic chemists. The “etude” also helped me to practice the polyrhythms, tempo rubato, and similar techniques, that I encountered in my studies of romantic period piano repertoire. The piece is named after Victor Grignard, who received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his method of adding metal ions to manipulate the chemical properties of an organic molecule, to allow it to participate in unorthodox reactions. The organometallic technique is one of the most commonly used in organic synthesis reactions today, and is unique in allowing for nucleophilic attack of a halide group, of an alkyl-halide, to an area of electronegativity on a target site, to form a carbon-carbon bond. Characteristics of this reaction, and others, are represented in the piece. Perhaps the easiest mechanistic step to discern, represented in the piece, is the nucleophilic attack; resulting in a mix of two enantiomeric products.

Current Work

Cultural Capitals

A choral piece written for two choirs: a western, and eastern choir. The piece is part of a multimedia art installation, with sculptor Kayla Gifford.

Leo’s Lullaby

A solo piano lullaby written for my nephew. Heavily influenced by Chopin’s nocturnes.

Carolina Shags

Growing up in the south, I participated in carolinian etiquette courses, with my peers. As part of this curriculum, we were taught a regional dance style, known as the Carolina Shag. I have been working on writing a set of Shags, for solo piano.