Bobby Ge - System Haptics Off, for percussion quartet (So Percussion)

Completed March 23, 2024
Premiered May 14, 2024 by So Percussion in the Lewis Arts Center, Princeton University

All of my music is in some way, shape, or form, grounded in how people interact. I have a particular interest in how new social norms develop in and around the presence of everyday tech: the unspoken rules of texting; the limits on cell phone time in public; where and when it’s permissible to cold call someone (i.e. never); whether a thought is more fit for an email, a text, or a direct message, etc.

For all of the incredible conveniences afforded by digital technology, people speak so disparagingly of its ubiquity that manufacturers have actually created features that specifically limit how much digital communication intrudes in daily life. Many of my friends and I permanently enable ‘Do Not Disturb,’ while permanently disabling the annoying buzz of haptic feedback - the way smartphones vibrate to make digital indicators seem more tangible.

This piece is about the inescapable presence of digital intrusion into regular life. The music begins gentle and malleable, vibraphone and steel pan trading phrases back and forth in a decidedly gooey treatment of time. Swiftly, though, sampled iOS sounds and hyperactive hi-hat activity interrupt the thoughtful opening texture. Initially attempting to coexist with these interruptions, the vibes and pans eventually get caught up in all the energy, hurtling headlong into a madcap hodgepodge of wild rhythms, notifications, and rude interjections.

System Haptics Off was written for the incredible musicians and pedagogues of So Percussion. They are some of the kindest, most generous, and most skillful musicians I have had the pleasure of working with, and they made the process of writing this piece an absolute joy.