Composer Aart Strootman has been conducting unique research into sound material and the development of new instruments for many years. He sees these as an important link between composer and performer. Strootman is therefore the person of choice for a commission exploring the properties of (under) water music. Waterworks is a follow-up to the pilot Floating that Strootman performed at the 2018 festival in the hotel swimming pool of Parkhotel Tjaarda. In the latest project, he uses tubular bells. Rein tuned, tone-fixed sound bars stand next to or partly hang in the pool, or float or slide in the water. This creates different kinds of sounds.
In the composition, the pipes enter into a dialogue with the water and become part of it. Their pitches are tuned with extreme precision, creating a rich range of overtones. Acoustic phenomena such as beatings can also be heard. These are interferences of two very closely spaced tones creating rhythmic patterns. These beatings and their solutions as the tones merge back together form tension and relaxation in this work, just as dissonants and consonants do in traditional music.