Having taken some time to reflect on the Pauline Oliveros article, I decided I wanted to do the same as her- retreat and do self work, even outside of sonic practices. This is something I intend to do in the summer, so I thought it’d be helpful to find a way to measure the effectiveness of doing so in the meantime. I am going to create a sound piece reflecting my current state of self, using the voice as my main medium.

However, I am unable to use my voice as a melodic instrument. Thinking of ways I could still use my words and voice as a tool for this pice, I was brought back to Klein’s performance at the Barbican back in January of this year, where she brought London artist Jawnino onto stage. Jawnino, mostly known for his association with UK underground rap, delivered a distorted, harshly spoken verse over an improvised saxophone solo.

(insert jawnino at klein video)

As someone who writes words and sometimes lays them onto music, I found this inspiring, as it opened up a whole new door of what the term “sound art” could mean; it feels as though I no longer have to change myself to fit into the realm of sound art, but rather that I have to deconstruct and redefine my perception of sound to understand it. As someone who also plays saxophone, I would, on a controversial note, a vocal instrument; it is controlled with the breath and the mouth in the same likeness that the voice is. I will therefore make use of both the voice and the saxophone in this piece.

Over a bed of solely field recordings (most of which are heavily manipulated), I constructed a poem, slightly nonsensical in its theme and grammar:

cycles
cycles
looping up and down cycles
no learning i keep repeating
acts i’m self defeating
my skin, with fingernails i’m eating
out my pores my blood is seeping
i’m weeping.
i keep cycling and cycling and cycling
and cycling until my bike breaks
mid break, spinning breaks; i need a break
etc..

I felt vulnerable, using my writing on something that’ll end up on a Bandcamp compilation. Taking inspiration from Jawnino’s performance at the Klein gig, I altered the sound of my vocal, muddying it within the mix. After this first minute of sound, the piece sets a much calmer tone in contrast. The glitchy breaks come in after a while, creating a more rhythmic feel.

The purpose of creating this piece is to be able to reflect on it after summer, and compare it to a newly created one after getting into the practice of mindfulness and self care in all aspects in life. Hopefully I will come near to an outcome like Oliveros’.