Ghost Quartet is a sound installation and process composition which presents the improvisations of four musicians, who are recorded independently from each other, projected through the bodies of broken string instruments. Attached to each string instrument is a transducer exciter—a loudspeaker component that resonates the body to which it is attached turning it into a speaker-object.

During the recording sessions, musicians are invited to create a sequence of improvisations, each exploring different “ghost tones”—i.e. non-standard sounds that draw out hidden or fragmented aspects of the instrument—as well as reflecting upon the disembodiment of their performance through the recording process.

In presentation, the recorded performances are re-embodied; the audience can walk around the objects and listen closely to each instrument, even as the original source of the performance is unseen.

 Ghost Quartet #1 was created with Mahid Araim (violin), Cecilia Trode-Nyguen (viola), Ben Shirley (Cello), and Adam Mirza (violin).  It was presented at No Tomorrow in Underground Atlanta on Aug 21, 2022 during a residency with the Atlanta Improvisers Orchestra. The instruments used in the sound installation were broken and deemed unrepairable by the local Atlanta luthiers who provided them, namely: Ronald Sachs Violins (Avondale) and Voss Violins.