The title plays with a compound expression, merging the words “String,” “in,” “Mi,” and “stringimi” (Italian for “hold me tight”). Depending on pronunciation, these words may take on different meanings. “String in Mi” might be interpreted as “strings tuned to the note E” (Mi in Italian) or “strings within me,” reflecting a linguistic wordplay in both English and Italian. Additionally, “stringimi” reflects the composer’s sensory desire to be immersed and surrounded by synthetic string instruments that continuously change in essence and form, intertwining double bass notes that emerge and submerge in close contact with the composer.

Strings possess a distinct idiosyncrasy, which is considered in the composition Strin[G]i(n)[Mi]. Here, the friction produced by the bow on the string during initial attack transients is amplified, transforming into glitch and structural noise along with resonances and cyclical movement, which are essential parts of the string’s sound formation, turning everything into a metaphor. Vibration, seen as the fundamental element of continuous motion, becomes a pulse or guiding tempo on which the composition is built. This approach enables a unique perception of time, giving the sensation of accompanying the material along a path and of being part of a developing amalgamation that explores from microsound to microform, gradually reaching both meso and macroform.

The term “microsound” here does not imply micro-temporal fragmentation but rather the study of behavior and relationships among internal components over time, creating new associations around the note E and the spectral expansion of harmonics through role inversion: sometimes harmonics become actual fundamentals, exploding into new complex spectra. Other times, components behave as true harmonics of virtual or acoustic strings, coexisting with other elements added by the composer in varying relationships through insistent modulations, managing various degrees of spectral fusion. Components stretch or contract through processes that determine different degrees of harmonicity and inharmonicity, symmetry and asymmetry, movement or stasis, brushing the boundaries of perceptual form, oscillating between the authenticity of sources and their synthetic counterparts.

Microsounds thus become a structural base for creating material of higher hierarchy, which enhances the qualities and personality of the string instruments amidst numerous transformations. In some key moments, the composition returns to tonality, as it does not seek to avoid the close connection with harmonics. Thus, moments arise when the fusion and fission processes of spectral components turn into cadences, only to be absorbed back into fields of greater perceptual complexity. The composition offers a personal interpretation of the essay “Music from Machines: Perceptual Fusion & Auditory Perspective” by John Chowning, published in 1990.Strin[G]i(n)[Mi][6:10] #2ch (2023)