MANTIS is a fifteen-part sound collage designed to induce trance states in listeners. It is not background or “ambient” music; it has to be listened to fairly closely to work.

MANTIS was realized using several different methods of sound synthesis.The principal synthesis technique was something I developed myself with some former students called Mutation Synthesis. This involves digitally switching between two or more simple waveforms at a rate faster than the frequency of either waveform. The simple waveshapes thereby morph into composite waveshapes and deliver complex harmonic spectra.

Part II, MANTIS, utilizes 580 separate note statements, and is dedicated to Patty Liu, an old friend, in remembrance of meeting her on the 580 Freeway in Oakland.