My two recent albums are both wordless: Geometry of Caves (Relative Pitch) and Protean Labyrinth (Bandcamp, self-release). I included liner notes in the DL of Protean Labyrinth which explains a little of why I chose to not use words, and this is an addendum.
One, I wanted to explore how listeners – including myself – perceive syllables as sounds as opposed to words which carry a layer of information. Two, growing up bilingual and picking up a third language later for professional reasons, I was always very conscious of language being both a bridge and a barrier. As a child, I remember switching languages among my friends so that our parents wouldn’t understand what we were talking about. Some words were untranslatable – e.g., Japanese have so many words for weather, color, different kinds of rain – and it was common for us to mix several languages in a sentence.
Today, I see language become points of conflict, smartphone culture documenting bi/multi-linguals being harassed when they speak a non-dominant language in public. Those languages tend to be spoken by people of color. This issue is in no way unique to the U.S. although I feel that things have gotten worse over the last year or so (but hey, we also now have Crazy Rich Asians and that’s progress). Whenever there is a dominant race, minority or minorities can be targeted for practicing their own culture and heritage. One “minority” language can be a “dominant” language in another country and the cycle perpetuates. It’s really about power because language is powerful. I was interested in putting that aside for a moment, exploring vocal music sans the extra layer of information and power that words undeniably add to the mix.
My exploration of wordless vocals was most definitely influenced by Anthony Braxton. I had always incorporated wordless vocals in my work, but not in a very systematic way. This all changed in 2012 when I was asked to record, in a duo format with Anthony, his Diamond Curtain Wall Music where we used the graphic scores of Falling River Music and secondary material of Ghost Trance Music combined with interactive SuperCollider electronic patches designed by Anthony himself. That recording became part of a 12-CD box set titled 12 Duets (DCWM) 2012. Through this process, I realized that I needed to sit down and systematically figure out what I was trying to do because the paucity of my wordless vocal expressions hit me like a ton of bricks (I mean, I’m improvising with Anthony Braxton…). Much of my efforts in the area were triggered by the recording and didn’t make it into the box set, but years of researching vocal syllables and techniques ensued and continues to this day.
This direction was further strengthened as I prepared to document Braxton’s vocal ensemble material, which has now been recorded and is scheduled for release in early 2019. The syllables in those works are at the periphery of words, almost becoming defined but not quite. Pointillistic, abstract, but with intention.
Voice is such an individual instrument and so malleable. I see so many vocalists on the scene right now making such interesting, unique, fresh, eye-opening music. I hope to continue to do the same in my own way, exploring with two more follow-up albums in the Protean Labyrinth series.
