That Unseen Vibrance

That Unseen Vibrance, 2021

Stereo sound work for tam-tam (gong), ocean waves, pedal harp; 20’00”

Commissioned and premiered at the Listening Biennial, Berlin and worldwide.

That unseen vibrance. These are dense vibrations, larger than our bodies, larger than our ear drums. They work through us. They present as oceanic. I have a sense of being inside the sound, submerged in another medium, molten, or perhaps growing wings. Of enormous pressure depth yet vibrance shimmer. To dive into the oceanic with our own airborne sounds, feet on the ground, ears underwater. What animal could hear like this?

The tam-tam has a resonance that seems to grow beyond itself, taking off in swells of full spectrum sound. It is more pushed than struck and here I play it by staying within its own resonant rhythm. In the gong’s swells I hear the waves and so I recorded curling rollers of the Pacific. Like the gong and waves, when I play the harp the sound vibrates through my body, so I placed microphones inside the instrument to capture both its resonance and shimmer. In gong, waves, harp, and particularly in their combination, I experience a sense of entrainment to the sounds. Through them I think I can hear all sounds. You might recognize this place of sustaining? A crossing, an orientation, a migration, asylum. That unseen vibrance.