A Deep Dive into Timbral Sensitivity with Gabriel Bolaños

On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer Gabriel Bolaños.

Gabriel José Bolaños Chamorro is a Nicaraguan/American composer of solo, chamber, orchestral and electroacoustic music. He frequently collaborates closely with performers, and enjoys writing music that explores unusual techniques, structures, and timbres. He is interested in computer-assisted-composition, auditory perception, linguistics, graphic notation, improvisation, and modular synthesizers.

Gabriel is currently an Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Arizona State University, where he teaches courses in composition, analysis, music technology, and acoustics, and co-directs the PRISMS contemporary music festival. He received a BA in music from Columbia University and a PhD in Composition and Theory from UC Davis.

In this conversation Tyler and Gabriel cover a lot of ground, and get into the weeds a bit with some pretty academic topics… but first, Gabriel discusses how the guitar was the entry point into music; his Nicaraguan roots, and how that does - and, maybe more importantly, does not - influence his music; how he leverages computer-based tools to assist him in his compositional practices; and lots, lots more.

Gabriel and his music can be found online at https://gabrielbolanos.com/.

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