I am really satisfied with the overall performance. I feel luck to have a chance to do improvise performance with Miles, Aprana and Mai. It is my first time to improvise with dancer. Weird enough, I have tried dance improvise and of course sound improvise, but never put both together. To work with a dancer, we have to create a clear structure and dynamic to play with. For sound improv, the moment seems could be slower, and most of the time, we want the changes as smooth as possible. So usually, the changing is like sine wave LFO. One the other hand, dancer are more responsive and dynamic are more various, it could he very high energy and drop to low and bring it back in few second, it is more like random wave LFO.
We booked the Black Box Studio for three days, and in the third day morning, we finally have a chance to rehearse with Mai. Mai bought some costumes for us to choose with. She got a hood and the cape which she can use as the imagery of the thrush. In terms of the improvisation, she started with a very static in the first parts, where she mainly use facial expression to response to our drones and noise. Our noise can be the symbol of expresses sorrow over the lack of joy and meaning in the world. Then moving the second part, where me and Aparna playing the acoustic instruments . In this part, acoustic instruments allow me to have better dynamic control in order to respond to Mai’s dance movements with precision. When I first hit the Tibetan Tingsha bell, Mai has a drastic movements, and jumps after every bell rings. Until, Miles granule the bells and that make every bell rings more subtle. Then I use harmonica as I as breathing at first, and Aparna start to play the instrument she made. The harmonica part, for me, are the most direct to respond to Mai. I keep look at her moment, and try to follow her dynamic, and go along with her moment. When she go faster, I go faster, then we bring it down at bit, like a wave.
The first thing we have to decide is where are we going to be on the stage. Mai suggested us to sit on floor and surround her, however, we decide to put a L shape table on the corner, since our rehearsal are setting up like that, which have us more interaction between three of us. In the technical aspects, if we are in the same place, it’s better for the cable management since the main mixer is in our desk as well. Then, we have to set up the speakers. Firstly, Lou suggested us to put the sub under our table, because the low frequency are not very directional, but the audiences can subtly feel the bass are coming from us. Now we are in the corner, and we can’t put four speakers in the corner, otherwise, we will sit right in front one of the speaker, and blocking it. Therefore, I suggested the placement of speakers to be of rhombus shape within the square space. It is not the best setting sonically, but it still manage to cover the whole spaces, and more importantly, Mai can immerse to the sounds.
Another things have to sort out is the projector. We want to project some whites lines and words from the poem, and Miles and Aparna made the 45 min long video of those cutting words. However, that would be weird if we put the white screen in the all black stage. Therefore, we decided to use black cloths as the screens. But then, the black curtain in the studio are not flat at all, which will bend the words if we project on that. As a result, I borrow are huge polystyrene board and a stand with some black cloths from the sound arts technician attach on the board, to create a black projector screens. Finally, in terms of the lighting, we thought we could just use the DMX lights, but it is not bright enough, therefore, we asked the technician in the black box studio, to use one of the big LED light. Finally, I found the DMX lights have to use along with the DMX console to change the colours. Eventually, I set it up the light system, and I can fade in the light in the beginning of the show.
For the second and the last rehearsal, we started to finalise what we are going to use, and more importantly, the structure of the performance. It decided to three parts. In the beginning of the first part, we slowly bring in the simple wave drone. Aparna and Miles are mainly high pitch and I bring in the mid-low drone. Then, we gradually shift the pitch. And for me, I slowly fade in different field recording, such as the train and sound of the park to add more texture of the drone. I also start to increase the LFO that mapped to the panning of my drone. With the little twitch of the filter and the resonate, it create a spinning resonate sounds in the head. And it slowly hit to peak when Miles introduce more while noise and Aparna bring in more feedback.
In the second part, after the reaching the peak, we bring down the volume, and I slowly bring in the sparkling sounds of the fire, and bring down volume of the drone. Then, me and Aparna bring in the acoustic instrument and sounds. Aparna is using some rocks to go with the fire sounds, and I used Tibetan Tingsha Bells. After I heard my sounds are being granule as extra layer looping under, I swap to harmonica. The live granule that Miles makes, create a call and respond parts. In the end of this part, the granular becomes very drone, and sounds like an organ.
In the last part, I start to bring in the birdsongs, as to respond to the poem, the thrush. At the same time, I also add the more ambient sounds alone with the organ sounds, and Aparna also create a subtle drone underneath. Then in the end, I create some melodic bass sounds and we all gradually fade out until the birdsongs could be heard.
We meet Mai in-person for the first time in LCC. We show her the Black Box studio. We also chat about the concept and the practical aspect of the performances. We also are the first time to visit the studio, and it is much bigger than we thought. At first, we are thinking using table, since we are use to playing on table with all the electronic instrument and equipment, and sitting in the back of the audience as observers. In this way, Mai can have more space to move on stage. But Mai suggested us to work on the floor, and we can sit in difference part of the stage area. In this way, she can interact with us directly, as she said she will feel alone on stage, and she wants to have us on stage to interact with. Then we think one of us in the middle and two of us on the side, and set up four speaker in every corner of the room.
We send her the recording of our rehearsals before we meet, and she seems happy with what we do sonically. However, she said she would like a structure, as she explains, even playing with the abstract sounds or concept, she would like to have a story in mind while she improvising. At the same time, we also want to use projection to shows the fragmented words or lines from the pomes, and this projection can be the ‘story’ for Mai.
We tired to improvise together for the first time, and Miles suggested we do a five minutes improvise at first, which is a good idea. In this way, we won’t get lost which could happen easily at first. Every time we could start differently. After every five minute improvise, we can reflect on what we like. After improvise for two to three times, we already can find some pattern that we like, which can be use in the performance with Mai.
I am using Elektron Model:Sample to play and live manipulate field recording that I recorded during my wild camping trip, which included fire sparkling and water boiling sounds, birdsongs from the dawn. I also used ducks’ sounds that I recorded in Victoria park and the light rail sounds that I recorded last summer in Hong Kong. Then, Miles also send me frog sounds, soundscapes of the protest and train sounds to try to used during the improvise. I also bring harmonica, Tibetan Tingsha Bells and month harp to try to use it in-between improvise.
Aparna is using no-input mixer kit from the orb, which is her first time to do sound improvise. It is a challenge for her to use this unpredictable set up to do her first improvise. However, It turns out well since the uncertainty can give us surprise to interact with.
Finally, Miles is using the synth, Korg MS-20 mini, and using Ableton granular along with Novation Launch key mini + Launch control. He live granule my sampler sounds, which he are echoing and responding my changes.
After we did the research on Butoh, Aparna suggested we can use the poem The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy as the theme and direction of this project.
The Darkling Thrush
by Thomas Hardy
I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.
At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
The poem reflects the transition from the Victorian era to a more uncertain and disillusioned modern age. At the start of the poem, the speaker stands amidst a winter landscape, witnessing the desolate state of nature. The portrayal of the scenery as “spectre-grey” and “winter’s dregs” intensifies the feeling of decay and lifelessness. The speaker experiences a disconnection from the vibrant splendor of nature and expresses sorrow over the lack of joy and meaning in the world. Then the thrush appears and begins to sing, and the birdsongs is filled with a remarkable sense of vitality and optimism, as it describe it as ‘full-hearted evensong’.
We thought this poem are really fits to our project. The theme of Butoh is death and reborn, and the theme of this poem is death of an era, and new ear begin. For further discussion, we thought Mai could the both the narrator of the poem and the thrush. Then for the sound, we could follow the flow of the poem, moving from the decay and lifelessness, to the thrush, the hope.
Butoh is a unique form of contemporary dance originated in Japan with a performance called Kinjiki by Tatsumi Hijikata in 1959. It was originally named ‘ankoku butoh’ or ‘dance of utter darkness’, as Hijikata tried to distinguish his new dance. It was later shortened to Butoh and drawn in the work of a number of other artists. It emerged as a reaction to the Western influences on Japanese theatre and sought to redefine traditional notions of dance and performance. It aimed at throwing off the constraints of Western dance and the rigidity of the highly codified Japanese traditions such as the ancient Noh drama and Nihon Buyo (Japanese classical dance). While butoh was born out of a rejection of western dance, there are pedagogical links between butoh’s founders and German Expressionist dance. Hijikata also drew on the writings of Jean Genet and Antonin Artaud, among others. The contradictions within butoh are part of what make it fascinating. Apart from Tatsumi Hijikata, Kazuo Ohno was considered one of the founders as well. However, the two founders offer seemingly contradictory advice on the process of transformation. Hijikata said, ‘find the architecture of the cat, and the spirit will enter’ while Ohno said, ‘find the spirit, and form will take care of itself’. They approach the same point from different perspectives. Reading further, it was discovered that Yoko Ashikawa is also one of the earliest exponents of butoh though seldom mentioned due to the strong patriarchy in Japan. She danced a tree enduring the changing seasons which from the audience’s point of view, they projected an old woman or their grandmother reliving all of life’s experiences.
One of the founders of Butoh, Tatsumi Hijikata
‘Ma’ is a fundamental principle in Butoh that refers to the space between movements and the tension created within it. Butoh dancers strive to embody a state of ‘ma’ where time and space are suspended, allowing for a profound exploration of the body and the psyche. Therefore, slow, controlled, and distorted movements are often observed in Butoh performances as dancers contort their bodies in unconventional ways. The use of white body makeup and stark lighting further enhances the eerie and otherworldly atmosphere.
Butoh is characterised by its avant-garde and experimental nature, often exploring themes of darkness, the grotesque, and the subconscious. The raw and primal aspects of the human experience are expressed to challenge the conventional ideas of beauty and grace. Besides, Butoh performers don’t necessarily use only human characters as a source. Equally ready to explore transforming into a stone or mud, they draw on the full range of textures available in nature and attempt to manifest those physical and psychic materials in their bodies. Drawing on the worlds of the unconscious, dreams and the irrational, butoh leaves space for the audience to bring their own thoughts and dreams to the work, offering a rich, metaphorical world to taste and to enter.
Butoh has evolved over time and has influenced various art forms, including theatre, performance art, and contemporary dance. The hybrid fusions with theatre or with visual art have also enriched and broadened the scope of the artform. Receiving international recognition and being embraced by artists worldwide, Butoh continues to be a dynamic and evolving art form, challenging societal norms and inviting audiences to explore the depths of the human condition.
‘Meguri: Teeming Sea, Tranquil Land’ by Sankai Juku in 2019
After chatting with Jose and classmate during the class, I found the Miles and Aparna have similar interest in collaborating project. Miles has expressed his interest in creating sounds for dance while Aparna’s interest was in interactive sound objects for theatre. Having shared similar interests, a group of us three was formed. Then we are discuss where should we found the collaborator for the theatrical performance, which mainly looking for dancer, since Miles is interest in that field.
Under the recommendation of Jose, we were able to connect with an experienced Butoh dancer, Mai. Then we tried to contact her, and explain our idea and intention of project, along with our field of interested and past projects. This can give her a general idea of who we are, and what is our works sounds like. Jose also reminded us that Mai has experience of being limited in creative decision in previous the collaboration with students. Therefore, we emphasis of the form of the collaboration process, and improvisation would be a big part of the projects which make sure she will have freedom of the performance. Soon, she responded to us and accepted the our invitation of collaboration.
The initial through of this collaborate unit is working with theatre sounds. I studied Music and Performing Arts in high school. Throughout my academic journey, I actively engaged in numerous artistic showcases encompassing music theatre, physical theatre, drama, and dance performances. These experiences provided me with the opportunity to assume diverse roles such as performer, musician, sound designer, and crew member. I wanted to explore more on sounds for theatre, hence, the third option, Independent Interdisciplinary Project would be the ideal pathway of this units. I had performance in past years, working as sounds and performers simultaneously and I enjoyed live sound performance in the theatre context, since I can have direct control and response to the performer.
Throughout the years, studying sound arts, I am interested in field recording and soundscapes composition, and I want to mix soundscapes composition in to theatre and performance. I want to try to use only field recording for theatre sound design. Using field recording- the sound from the past, immersed with the live performance- the presence, would create a third space. The theatre is a space of abstract imaginations. The compliments of field recording, which are sounds from the reality, could construct an interesting bridge for the audience to jump between the virtual and existing world, or, to bring theatre close to the audience.
