“Hurry up the machine. I HAVE STRUCK A BIG BONANZA”  was the content of a telegram sent by Thomas A. Edison  on 13 September 1878, upon developing a working model of  the incandescent lightbulb, to William Wallace (who was developing an electrical power generator for the distribution of power). While composing this piece for solo Mini-Moog I have attempted  to imitate Edison’s working methods: an approach largely based  on trial and error. Initial states are established, and tested with  a row of “tolerance stack-ups”—in this case, tests to see which  parameters may be changed before a sound-object’s Gestalt is no  longer recognizable, and a new state is reached.

Manipulating sounds late at night in a small dressing-room  at the Musikfabrik, I sometimes envisioned the circuitry of  the Mini-Moog like the think-tank that Edison had built at Menlo  Park—oscillators, noise, filters, modulators became inventors, scientists, machinists, designers, glass-blowers etc. spending sleepless nights… cooperating brainstorming, quarrelling—at times  resulting in success, at times, a debacle.

This piece exists as a solo work as well as a movement in Tolerance Stacks II (for ensemble and five electroacoustic soloists) and  was written for, inspired/informed by, and dedicated to Sebastian  Berweck and Uli Löffler. Many thanks also go out to Ensemble  Musikfabrik, the festival Heroines of Sound and Hannah Weirich.

Annesley Black 

The work was first performed on 8 July 2022 as part of the Heroines of Sound at  Radialsystem cultural centre in Berlin by Sebastian Berweck (Minimoog) and  published by Edition Juliane Klein.