8.00 am: To the studio. To work. I needed to keep up a pace. The wall was begun. I knew how the composition should start and end, and that it would have three parts. It was the bit in the middle that waited to be discovered. I engaged further modulations of the splash:

Periodically, I interrogated myself about the relationship between my practice and improvised performance. My reluctance to participate stems from a complex of insecurities. Part of me would no more compose than paint in public. In the past. I’ve performed or (better) presented pre-composed material — usually at the end of a conference paper — as an exemplifications of ideas discussed therein.

Performances of improvised and experimental electronica or sound (like every other type of music) can be either astonishing or utterly dismal. The latter, at worst, looks amateurish and ill-considered. How the artist dresses, the type of furniture they surround themselves with, and the choreography of their entrance and exit is as much a part of the audience’s experience of the performance as anything they hear.

I’ve seen examples of performances where there was scant regard for the safety of either the performer or audience. I’ve heard inadequate amplification; poor balance between the instruments’ outputs; and dismal attempts on the part of the performer to engage the audience by explaining the concept, content, and context of the performance. At worst, the sound work is often tentative, insufficiently controlled, and unexceptional (dull, repetitive, obvious, unoriginal, unmemorable, pointless, and uniformed by better precedents).

12.00 pm: The beginning was over. I’d broken into the composition and discerned the ‘spine’ of the piece around which the other sounds will hang. After lunch, I returned to the bathroom and recorded the sound of rippling water — the aftermath of the splash.

I inserted the new samples into the session. The counterpoise between the dramatic impact of the splash and the gentleness of the moving water in its aftermath lifted the work immeasurably. For the next hour, I subtly manoeuvred the samples in relation to each other, added -24 semitone versions of the ripples, and embedded the new material, so that it sounded as though it was always a part of the whole. 3.30 pm: I looked again at the PowerPoint presentation for the paper.

4.30 pm: Sufficient!