The spectral mesh technique of phase-adjustment layering was inspired by “Auld Lang Syne: for 23 Cell Phones”—first performed on Jan 1, 2022 by Liz Ambrosia, Mafer Bandola, Dave Broome, Ludovica Burtone, Greg Chudzik, Sonia De Los Santos, Matt Evans, Liz Faure, Domenica Fossati, Amy Garapic, Sarah Goldfeather, Devin Greenwood, Hillary Hawke, Akiko Hiroshima, Nathan Koci, Saran Lucas, Elena Moon Park, Brett Parnell, Gyan Riley, Daniela Serna, Milenko Skoknic, Patrick Swaboda and Jessica Tsang—in which the 1947 recording of Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadian Orchestra accompanied by The Lombardo Trio was sounded asynchronously by 23 cellphones on the beach at Coney Island to celebrate the annual Polar Bear Plunge. 

The following day, I developed the spectral mesh technique to recreate the delicate sound of this spontaneous rite, transferring the recording to tape and layering it 48 times with phase adjustments to produce a mesh of frequencies at two different tape speeds. The song, in both of its variations, joined Spectral Mesh: Where or When to form the Apokálypsi series of spectral mesh compositions. 

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