singing back into sound poetry
One of the unexpected knock-ons from starting research and planning for the next idea after the masks, which actually looks like it will run in parallel to that project now, has been creeping back into sound poetry after a bit of a break.
You may remember that the next (or probably parallel) project is most likely to be a visual piece based on the Child ballad Long Lankin. I will write some more about my initial ideas on this shortly. Part of the research has been to remind myself of the words having taught myself the song some time ago. That's led to me learning a number of songs, particularly early Dylan and some of the starker folk songs I remember from my parent's records when I was a child.
This has started to have interesting effects. Most obviously for me it's a way of rehearsing and extending my vocal technique, and with that boosting my confidence. I find this important because a problem in recording and releasing a CD of sound poetry every month last year was that I never had the chance to consolidate anything I'd done. Consequently I felt as though both in terms of composition, and more importantly in terms of my voice I'd made no progress. It seemed as though my vocal technique had been neglected and I knew nothing more or conceivably even less than I had at the start of the year.
Something else that will be useful for improvisation, composing sound poetry/sound art pieces, and for performance is that learning the songs is a useful memory exercise. The time it takes to learn a new song has reduced rapidly from around a week or more for Dylan's John Wesley Harding, to less than a day for Fairport Convention's longer Matty Groves. This includes overcoming my usual problem of remembering what order verses come in.
The increase in confidence and a feeling that I can hold an overview of the structure of a piece in my mind has led me to start experimenting with sound-making again because I actually want to rather than because I feel I should or because I've taken on a project.
Additional boosts have come from the last Counting Backwards and the opportunity to see Dylan Nyoukis' brilliant technique first hand (he mentioned after the gig that he loves to sing), and a trip out on the weekend with friends to record an improvised piece.
You may remember that the next (or probably parallel) project is most likely to be a visual piece based on the Child ballad Long Lankin. I will write some more about my initial ideas on this shortly. Part of the research has been to remind myself of the words having taught myself the song some time ago. That's led to me learning a number of songs, particularly early Dylan and some of the starker folk songs I remember from my parent's records when I was a child.
This has started to have interesting effects. Most obviously for me it's a way of rehearsing and extending my vocal technique, and with that boosting my confidence. I find this important because a problem in recording and releasing a CD of sound poetry every month last year was that I never had the chance to consolidate anything I'd done. Consequently I felt as though both in terms of composition, and more importantly in terms of my voice I'd made no progress. It seemed as though my vocal technique had been neglected and I knew nothing more or conceivably even less than I had at the start of the year.
Something else that will be useful for improvisation, composing sound poetry/sound art pieces, and for performance is that learning the songs is a useful memory exercise. The time it takes to learn a new song has reduced rapidly from around a week or more for Dylan's John Wesley Harding, to less than a day for Fairport Convention's longer Matty Groves. This includes overcoming my usual problem of remembering what order verses come in.
The increase in confidence and a feeling that I can hold an overview of the structure of a piece in my mind has led me to start experimenting with sound-making again because I actually want to rather than because I feel I should or because I've taken on a project.
Additional boosts have come from the last Counting Backwards and the opportunity to see Dylan Nyoukis' brilliant technique first hand (he mentioned after the gig that he loves to sing), and a trip out on the weekend with friends to record an improvised piece.
Comments
I'll get you a copy of the woodland improv soon as i can.
Graham
http://grahamdunning.com