Drawing on my background as an electronic dance music (EDM) producer, much of my recent work has embraced the musical language of EDM, incorporating its incisive timbres, syncopated beats, and pop sensibility. Superhuman takes this idea a step further by featuring an ensemble composed entirely of electronic instruments, combining human expression with the superhuman soundworld of electronic music. This soundworld includes “vocal chops”—fragmented vocal samples continually arranged in different configurations; “supersaws”—a common synthesizer sound with a characteristic buzzing quality; and an “808 bass”—one of the most iconic bass sounds in hip-hop and EDM. Despite the eclectic mix of electronic sounds, Superhuman is still a work of chamber music; therefore, I tried to create a large-scale architecture rarely found in radio-ready dance music tracks.
Ultimately, this piece was born from a curiosity with two questions, both prompted by advances in artificial intelligence: “Can technology make us superhuman?” and, perhaps more importantly, “Do we want it to?”