As a result of Covid, Swarthmore decided that freshmen would be required to leave campus for Spring 2021 semester (to make room for Seniors who had been asked to attend remotely/virtually during Fall 2020 semester). I had toyed with deferring all of freshman year, but wanted to get going -- get on campus, meet people, meet my teammates and coaches. I knew (and Swat told us) that if things got progressively worse, Spring semester would likely become a fully virtual experience for freshmen, with students being asked to return home. I desperately wanted a full four year college experience (like everyone else). Somehow, I convinced myself I was clever enough to outrun and plan and strategize around it all -- I would get on campus first semester and things would work out some way for the following semester. I couldn't outrun it though. Forced to leave campus, I took the semester off to reserve that semester for a typical, full on campus experience. I came home, took classes at a local college - some for credit, some simply to audit to see if I was interested in the topic. I interned (virtually) at law firm to work on writing and make some money.
I also got back into playing some music (piano and multitrack recording) and reading about whatever I found interesting -- often history (such Darkest Hour) or economic policy books (such as Freakanomics). Somewhere in all of this, I started making little history soundscapes on whatever I was reading about or thinking about. I composed small instrumental tunes and combined those with pieces of recorded history (such as speeches or new alerts) and also took other sound sources, music, etc. and manipulated and edited it all together in an attempt to tell little history-related stories. I try to create a soundscape or atmosphere and convey a feeling of being there in that time.
In the following piece, I imagine that all the broadcasted sounds of World War 2 are still bouncing around in space, and at the right frequency, a person can pick it all up and hear it play out. I try to create a distant satellite communication feel, and use original piano compositions to tie things together. I also use the piece, Jerusalem, and a heavily manipulated cover of I'll Be Seeing You that I change through added piano parts, speed changes and phasing effects.