Earwash

Alumnus Alberto Granados Reguilón (master Klassiek - compositie) studeerde af met Earwash. 

Alberto: 'One day I saw my hyperactive younger cousin of 15 years old very calmed watching a movie on YouTube made of soft sounds. When I asked her about it, she told me that she used it every night in order to fall asleep, that this was called ASMR, and that all of her friends were doing it as well. I got mind blown when I checked the huge phenomenon that ASMR has created, being followed by millions of people all over the world! I wondered: ‘why do people need​ this in order to calm down and fall asleep?’ In a world that is full of stimuli, you also need stimuli to stop the world.  
 
I composed a piece about ‘health’: Earwash. This ‘health’ does not only refer to the most hygienic aspect of the word, but it also brings the focus on a more personal and psychological healthy way of listening and perceiving the world around us, including the confrontation of stimuli like the immense variety of music streamed online, daily sounds and noises, and the vast amount of information and fake news.  
 
In order to compose this piece in times of Covid-19, I had to work with limitations, and use the things that I had with me during the quarantine: myself, the objects of my house, and my imagination. I had to reinvent my role of classical composer who always works with musicians into a more performative and theatrical role, which was a huge adventure that opened a new world of creative possibilities for me. In fact, thanks to the ASMR format, I could use the sound in a very intimate way, almost as if it was ‘tactile’, making it very powerful in times of social distance.
 
This piece is very special for me because I feel it touches something very personal of myself, but it also addresses a universal subject such as ‘health’, being able to connect with a broad audience.'

Henk Heuvelman, director Gaudeamus: 'Earwash is an example of Alberto's personal interpretation of music and art, which demonstrates the ambition to explore and further expand on the traditional music practice, including theatre, visuals, humour and text, together with music. This interdisciplinary interpretation of music is also thematically connection with the problems that are currently occurring in the world.’

Jorrit Tamminga, composition department representative, Conservatorium van Amsterdam: 'Alberto demonstrated in the structure of this piece how he can benefit from the new online situation, because he reinvented himself as a composer-performer, including the restrictions imposed by the current lockdown situation, and transformed these into inspiration for his piece. With Earwash, he has confirmed his broad profile as composer and he combined composition, theatre, electronic music with urban and folkloristic roots, all united in a personal concept: ‘the health of our ears’, a concept that transcends music and art, and which proves his engagement with social issues.’