My piece Altered Images was concerned with the dual interpretation of the word "image" on both aesthetic and sonic levels, Onset/Offset is concerned, even more than before, with exploiting the interplay between the original "meaning" of sound objects and their spectro-morphological characteristics. Thus, there are many recognisable sounds in this piece which can, and should, be perceived on both levels - the sound of a key in a lock on one level refers to the action of unlocking a door, but on another, is also interesting as a pure sound in itself.

Onset/Offset was realised in the Electroacoustic Music Studios at Northern College, Aberdeen and at the University of Birmingham in April 1996. It has received Honourable Mentions at the Stockholm Electronic Arts Award, 1996 and the 1st Pierre Schaeffer Competition for Electroacoustic Music, 1998 and was released on the Acousmatica CD label (CD 1298) in 1998 and also on Electroshock in 1999 (ELCD 010). It was also released by Sonic Arts Network in March 2003 on Legacies from Sargasso, to celebrate 20 years of BEAST. It also appears on the solo DVD-A Un Son Peut En Cacher Un Autre from empreintes DIGITALes and Matthew Herbert's compilation You Are Here.