Lydfabet (14 min. 40 / 17Mb)
Make sure to listen via a good pair of loudspeakers or headphones in order to catch all the details Lydfabet
2006-09
sound montage
15min.
About:
The Lydfabet is a project begun in 2006 in collaboration with the poet Vagn Steen.
With the idea that it might be interesting to record Vagn reading some of his poems and then use the recordings as the basis for a series of sound pieces I suggested that we use the alphabet as a means of ordering the large pile of poems available.
In the event Vagn ended up composing a new series of short poems based on each letter of the Danish alphabet. With the scheme of a poem a day for the month of April we began a daily ritual of recording and listening to the results. It soon became clear just how different the sound of the Danish language is from its written form and Vagn often returned to the writing board and made the appropriate adjustments or re-compositions. After this intial process of writing, reading, recording and listening I began to dissect and reassemble the sound files of the final poems in order to further bring out various aspects of the sound of each letter.
Form:
The final form is a series of 29 vignettes of 30 seconds each. A journey through the alphabet within a quarter of an hour.
The basic material has also been used for semi-improvised live electronic performances in which about 3 minutes were given to each of a selection of letters. In its present state the Lydfabet exists as a large live 'set' - a set complied in and for Ableton's 'Live' software - which means that within the defined set structure there is freedom to improvise and shape the materials in various ways depending on the context in which they are to be presented.
Structure:
The short poems which provided the point of departure for the Lydfabet are in their electronic extensions placed against a structural grid. The grid has its point of departure in the Chaldean numerological table which assigns numbers to each letter of the alphabet:
1 = a i j q y
2 = b k r
3 = c g l s
4 = d m t
5 = e h n x
6 = u v w
7 = o z
8 = f p
This table has been used as a point of departure in assigning a tempo and time signature to each letter. Similarly each letter/soundfile is also assigned one of eight reverberation/ delay times in order to give it a specific sound identity.
Exploration:
Some of the Lydfabet material will be used as part of the Metroplex Soundscape Project initiated by Carl Emil Carlsen and Jakob Goetz. Here vistors can themselves enter into exploration of the sound materials by navigating through an abstract virtual 'city' in which the basic sound blocks are contained. The idea is to provide a new basis for web-based sound experience.
2006-09
sound montage
15min.
About:
The Lydfabet is a project begun in 2006 in collaboration with the poet Vagn Steen.
With the idea that it might be interesting to record Vagn reading some of his poems and then use the recordings as the basis for a series of sound pieces I suggested that we use the alphabet as a means of ordering the large pile of poems available.
In the event Vagn ended up composing a new series of short poems based on each letter of the Danish alphabet. With the scheme of a poem a day for the month of April we began a daily ritual of recording and listening to the results. It soon became clear just how different the sound of the Danish language is from its written form and Vagn often returned to the writing board and made the appropriate adjustments or re-compositions. After this intial process of writing, reading, recording and listening I began to dissect and reassemble the sound files of the final poems in order to further bring out various aspects of the sound of each letter.
Form:
The final form is a series of 29 vignettes of 30 seconds each. A journey through the alphabet within a quarter of an hour.
The basic material has also been used for semi-improvised live electronic performances in which about 3 minutes were given to each of a selection of letters. In its present state the Lydfabet exists as a large live 'set' - a set complied in and for Ableton's 'Live' software - which means that within the defined set structure there is freedom to improvise and shape the materials in various ways depending on the context in which they are to be presented.
Structure:
The short poems which provided the point of departure for the Lydfabet are in their electronic extensions placed against a structural grid. The grid has its point of departure in the Chaldean numerological table which assigns numbers to each letter of the alphabet:
1 = a i j q y
2 = b k r
3 = c g l s
4 = d m t
5 = e h n x
6 = u v w
7 = o z
8 = f p
This table has been used as a point of departure in assigning a tempo and time signature to each letter. Similarly each letter/soundfile is also assigned one of eight reverberation/ delay times in order to give it a specific sound identity.
Exploration:
Some of the Lydfabet material will be used as part of the Metroplex Soundscape Project initiated by Carl Emil Carlsen and Jakob Goetz. Here vistors can themselves enter into exploration of the sound materials by navigating through an abstract virtual 'city' in which the basic sound blocks are contained. The idea is to provide a new basis for web-based sound experience.