The Taos Hum is an audio phenomenon reported by a small, but sizable, portion of people living in and around Taos, New Mexico. Commonly heard as a persistent low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning, it is often described as quite disturbing and has been attributed to a decrease in mental stability among the general population. Explanations for the source of the hum range from secret underground nuclear testing facilities, to tectonic plate movement, to invisible alien spacecraft. Despite much scientific (and not-so-scientific) research, the true cause of the hum remains a mystery and many doubt that it even exists at all.

As a composer, I spend a lot of time thinking about sound. One of the things I find most fascinating about it is the way in which it can ignite the imaginations of those who listen. So many wild stories have been concocted to explain the Taos Hum and I wanted to explore that particular aspect of this phenomenon in this piece. From a distant rumble, a diverse landscape of timbres and textures emerge and envelope the sonic landscape only to retreat back into their origins of cryptic obscurity.