Many of the lengthy time stretch manipulations were used for a performance piece at Wet Sounds, 2011 in Glasgow's North Woodside Pool. Thanks to Joel Cahen for the invitation. It has taken over a year to reinterpret this material and contextualise it within a semi-pitched framework. Pitch centres are derived from short samples from Zheng master Sun Zhuo. My thanks to her for generously allowing me to use a number of small samples. Her performance was graceful and fluid, yet at times the pace and ferocity of movement reminded me of the intricate links between sound and (body) motion.

Strings and Tropes focuses upon context, aligning sounds and transformations often with reference to the core source material — a melody from Xiang Shan She Gu (The Temple Fair at the Xiang Mountain, 1981) by Qu Yun — and the broader idea of a trope, an interpretation and re-contextualisation of material within an established framework. This work continues my research into theoretical ideas thrown open in my text book, Sonic Art: Recipes and Reasonings, in particular the roles of gesture and texture in determining structure.