MICE MUSIC

Mice music draws its musical material from the sounds of real mice, just as Olivier Messiaen used birdsong in many of his works. These sounds (generally ultrasonic) were processed algorithmically and transcribed to musical notation with the help of various software programs. The piece employs only the topmost octave of the piano. Numerous inside-the-piano extended techniques are used, including pizzicati on strings, playing behind the capo d’astro, and a neodymium bar magnet to create several novel sounds.