Chaparral is a collection of field recordings, drones recorded on trumpet and trombone, feedback from a metal sheet and mixer, and various samples, including heartbeat, bells, and pencil on paper. The three pieces came together over the course of December 2025 to March 2026, drawing from improvised material and found sounds, combined to gradually create a sense of structure.

The work is concerned with Nev Wendell’s relationship to the city she lives in at this point in time. A sense of place is never separate from the experience of living in it, and this interplay is central. Her connection to Los Angeles and the landscape that it is nestled within surfaces throughout the work, whether or not explicitly site specific field recordings are present.

Despite living in Hollywood, a chaotic and at times surreal environment, it is possible to move quickly into the quiet chaparral of the Hollywood Hills. The initial sensation is one of separation from the noise of the city, followed by a gradual adjustment of the ear to a softer but equally active soundscape. Crows, hawks, scrub jays, mockingbirds, crickets, black flies, planes passing overhead, other hikers, the sound of rocks periodically slipping down the faces of the canyon, and the movement of wind through sage, needlegrass, oak, and sycamore contribute to a specific sense of place that is held within the work.

The recordings reflect a movement between different levels of perception and awareness that arises through sustained attention to environment.

Nev Wendell (she/they) is a Los Angeles based composer and trumpet player whose work incorporates drone, digital processing of acoustic sound, field recording, improvisation, and just intonation and microtonality. She is interested in creating a sense of place through sound, the construction of identity through perception rather than authorship, the abstraction of sound from source, and the distortion of time through sound.

As a performer, Wendell has worked across a range of genres, with a primary focus on contemporary chamber music and improvisation. She has performed with ECHOI of Monday Evening Concerts, Wild Up, Diapason, the Colburn Orchestra, Peninsula Symphony, Liminal Voices Orchestra, and various project specific ensembles across Los Angeles. She has premiered and recorded work by Sarah Davachi, George Lewis, Sarah Hennies, Trevor Treglia, and others.

Thanks are extended to Zo Shay for support with recording and advice on mixing and mastering, Lucy Freedman for access to their family’s bell collection, and to those who offered support and feedback during the development of the album.