Driving through the American West and Southwest, much of what one sees are long stretches of beautiful, harsh, and uninterrupted desert. But occasionally, the desert is punctuated by inviting bits of lush greenery that seem to almost impossibly burst forth from the dry landscape. These are often signs of civilization (a city, a golf course) though other times they are natural formations (a sudden change in flora, an unexpected riverbank). While beautiful on their own, these unexpected shocks of green are all the more enchanting because of the way they stand in relief to their surroundings. Emerald Oasis is inspired by these experiences of seeing something beautiful and bountiful come out of a seemingly inhospitable environment.

The pulsing and expansive music that opens the piece captures the feeling of driving through the open desert – the steady speed; the expansiveness, peacefulness, and beauty of the surroundings; and the danger of being in an unforgiving natural environment. This opening music transforms into something lush, tender, and intimate – a musical oasis. The final third of the piece is a triumphant celebration in which the musical ideas from the beginning and middle of the piece come into joyful focus.

One of my favorite aspects about living in Los Angeles is the speed with which I can move from a bustling urban environment to a vibrant natural one. In less than ten minutes, I can get from my home to a point on canyon trail in which I cannot see or hear anything man-made.

Though the natural beauty of these trails is inspiring itself, what I find most fascinating is observing the process of my ears recalibrating themselves from the sounds of the city to the sounds of nature. At first, I seem to hear nothing. Then, I realize that what I thought was silence was not: I notice the most prominent bird calls, then the quieter ones, the wind, and finally, small animals rustling in nearby bushes. If I sit motionless on a rock, the rustling animals will get closer and louder as they forget that I am there. Before much time has passed, I find that the sounds of nature seem to become just as loud and complex as those from the city, but with an entirely different character and purpose. I always find this experience transfixing and invigorating, and Noise Gate takes its shape and energy from it.

The piece begins with a blast of urban assault, capturing the excitement, grandeur, and overwhelming character of life in the city. After these opening minutes, the piece gradually passes through the noise gate; as the music becomes quieter and the more bombastic parts recede, new textures and colors emerge that could never have been heard in the opening section. These ideas become the focal point in the spare, playful, and incredibly quiet middle section; gurgling gestures briefly poke their heads out of a barely audible tapestry of sound that lies beneath. As our ears adjust to this new level of sound, the gurgling ideas become more pronounced and insistent, until what seemed like vague silence has developed into an equally dense and exciting musical space as the opening of the piece. The piece ends with the suggestion of the inevitable return back to urban life.

A noise gate is computer hardware or software that is used to control the volume of an audio signal. Any signal which is below a certain threshold will be completely eliminated, thus removing the quieter "noise" from the final product. One could imagine the form of this piece beginning with a noise gate with a high threshold that is then gradually lowered as the loudest sounds disappear, allowing the more delicate ones to come through.