Quasi-Stellar Radio Source

Instrumentation: 7.1.4 speaker arrangement

Duration: 17:20

A Quasi-Stellar Radio Source is the original label for what we now refer to as a quasar, the latter term being a contraction of the former. These events are massive emissions of light that come from a supermassive back hole following an influx of a tremendous amount of matter. This matter forms an accretion disk, which heats up as a result of extreme friction and gravitational forces. This heating up causes the matter to light up and blast out as massive jets of glowing material that outshine their host galaxies.

So, how do you translate something so visceral, so grounded in the natural world — something we have never seen up close — into music? Quasi-Stellar Radio Source is my answer to that question, in the form of a sonic journey; I imagine being in a ship traveling closer to one of these objects — as close as I dare at least. I orbit around for a bit and let the glints of light flicker across the windows of the ship as I watch the dust swirl around. Flecks of matter collide and crash against each other, rubbing against the ship. I sit, and observe. Then, after some time,  I turn to depart as I allow the quasar to recede into the distance.