My son enjoys playing Bey Blades, which are spinning toys that bang and smash into one another within a plastic made arena. I spent countless hours with my son spinning away, where he often cajoled me into playing as a second whenever his friends were not available. Easily enough, I found myself immersed in his imagined world of Beys.

Typical play pits two Beys against each other in a “battle”, where the longest standing wins. Recording sounds from these toys during game play and descriptions my son gave of imagined sound worlds, I curiously followed his interest and the dichotomy between the real and the imaginary. These threads helped form the backbone of the piece, in which I travel back and forth between realistic game play and constructed hyper real sound of cinematic action/tournaments. “Let it Rip” intertwines the playfulness, competitive nature, and the theatre of these toys and their action.

Audio here is a binaural stereo version of the 7.1 multichannel work. Contact for programming the full fixed media work.

Performances

• New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), June 25, 2026.
• Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), University of Texas, San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, May 20, 2026.
• Electronic Music Midwest (EMM), Lewis University, Romeoville, IL, Mar 13, 2026.
• Future Music Oregon (FMO), University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, Nov 22, 2025.