In Asi el Acero, I tried to marry two very different sound worlds: the steel drum, generally associated with Caribbean music, and the world of electroacoustic music, usually associated with technology, computers and synthesizers. In order to find a coherent ensemble for both, I have done important research in the classical repertoire of steel drum, music by nature very "noisy", very rhythmic and very repetitive.
From there came to me the idea of using small rhythmic cells to adapt the fixed idioms to the instrument itself, so its role in Asi el Acero is a very precise rhythmic direction. Concerning the sounds on tape, I used them as extensions of the instrument played live -as a giant steel drum band- whose role would be to accompany the instrumentalist and, more importantly, to articulate the rhythmic structure and produce strong accentuations to give impetus- or in terms of Caribbean music- to "kick" the principal instrumentalist. These tape-like (or computer-controlled) sounds are steel drum sounds, sampled and processed just like synthetic sounds.
From a rhythmic point of view, the piece explores the use of the legend and the medieval atmosphere. In plain language, this means that the small rhythmic elements are combined with sound elements of different duration, while the fixed elements played by the instrumentalist are always modified or counterbalanced according to the cadence, and are therefore syncopated, juxtaposed or superimposed compared to what happens with the computer part. There are about 120 elements that are in perpetual transformation, giving the piece an air of toccata in contradiction with the music of the Caribbean, but in perfect harmony with my own interpretation on it.