ken bau and shenai

http://www.alansondheim.org/clack.mp3
http://www.alansondheim.org/cloak.mp3

experimenting, no circular breathing here, apologies
still breathing, apologies, still experimenting
still no circularity, apologies, still shenai and ken bau

Music at the Bowery Poetry Club


Book party for Chris Funkhauser's New Directions in Digital Poetry.
Opening act:

Chris Funkhauser, flute
Chris Diasparra, baritone sax
Azure Carter, vocal and song (with Motu reverb)
Alan Sondheim, cobza (with reverb)

http://www.alansondheim.org/bowery.mp3

This is the sound I've been searching for recently - exoplanet
events - & after a short peaceful dream about my mother, waking
sadly, then walking on exoplanets, an event

playing melodica

http://www.alansondheim.org/melodica1.mp3 with reverb
http://www.alansondheim.org/melodica2.mp3 with reverb
http://www.alansondheim.org/melodica3.mp3 with reverb and pitch shift

yes, short of breath, but then a bit of the baritone
more experimentation, heading towards organ-saxophone
but thinking about shakuhachi which is unfair to both instruments

child companion reason period blessing melody
tiny mournful signal calling in soup of melody
and eate him with great melody. And so when they haue
nor grimmer sound than melody,

playing together

http://lounge.espdisk.com/archives/773

or

http://espdisk.com/alansondheim/sess1m.mp3 (mono)
http://espdisk.com/alansondheim/sess2m.mp3 (mono)
http://espdisk.com/alansondheim/sess4m.mp3 (mono)
http://espdisk.com/alansondheim/sess5m.mp3 (mono)

Chris Funkhauser, flute
Chris Diasparra, baritone
Azure Carter, voice and songs
Alan Sondheim, saz, oud, pipa

debris, dawning

http://espdisk.com/alansondheim/oudday1.mp3
left over from day1 performance; somehow the sound was
transformed into something unworldly and beautiful
http://www.alansondheim.org/dawning.mp4
left over from the performance materials, here for the color
it's the central gate that fascinates me, holds me
it's the same light over the Matterhorn I do believe

korea

http://espdisk.com/alansondheim/yi.mp3

oud, double-course strings played individually: i worked this out
originally for cobza; here it creates bell-like tones resonant
with the poetics of the origin of the world. i hallucinated korea,
playing the figures of goddesses and dragons from the great tomb.
i hallucinated figures making their way slowly across the stretch
of strings, roads of limited durations. i hallucinated them
literally, my eyes closed, head pressed against the belly of the
instrument, its vibrations my very own, the singular music of
historical memory occasioned by the figures; it was their memory,
not mine, they communicated through the murmur of the wood. for

1980s Egyptian oud

http://espdisk.com/alansondheim/ASC.mp3
http://espdisk.com/alansondheim/ASCflesh.mp3

- just received this, shallow bowl, nice rounded sound, lots
of cracks. think this was originally inexpensive (poorly made
sound hole filigree for example), but the spruce top has aged
beautifully, so the sound is good and the action isn't
terrible. when i listened to the recording, i could hear my
nails, my breathing (upper and lower chest, wheezing, tense
from allergic reactions), moving the instrument around, etc.
- and thought - this is the sound of the flesh - using hiss
reduction - keeping only the hiss - i sought to bring this
out - this labor - fully - finding the sound fantastically
transformed, something else of the wonder of the world

Last Night's Music at Unnameable Books::

http://www.alansondheim.org/adamzoud.mp4

Alan Sondheim, oud
Chris Diasparra, baritone sax

This is a fair amount to watch, but it gives a good idea of the labor
involved in music production, something I've wanted to emphasize.
The oud is plugged in. To 'play like this' requires hours of practice
and an exactness that's difficult for me; I've only been playing
fretless instruments for maybe two years now. So the speed involves
quick stopping and starting (with all the issues of accelerating and
inertia involved), as well as hopefully minute adjustments to bring
the position into tune. Fingers, wrists, arms are involved. To get a
greater reach it's sometimes necessary to move the hand from under
the neck, fretting from above; I gain at least a fourth from that,