SHOP

This publication offers another platform – that of sound carrier – to further spotlight the collaboration between DE PLAYER and ODR. It features live recordings and an essay that addresses technical research in the field of sound as it relates to the ODR’s programming, namely, the use of both the virtual and analog voices during the Who’s Afraid of Modern Opera performances.

The technical questions that productions of this sort face are addressed in Pieter Verstraete’s essay Vocal Extensions, which also lends its name to this issue of Department of Public Sound 1#2. The essay is further, which is subtitled: “Disembodied Voices in Contemporary Music Theatre and Performance”.

This publication includes a 10” vinyl record, which consists of a selection of recordings of two performances during the Who’s Afraid of Modern Opera events. Alex Nowitz and Xiao He presented their improvised performances on location exclusively for the ODR. These recordings are presented as works in their own right, but they can also serve to illustrate Pieter Verstraete’s essay and add further nuances to the material he describes in his essay.

DE PLAYER’s “Department of Public Sound” series focuses on the dialogue between the social context of society’s function as venue and its inner content. We don’t pretend that we’re not seeking some sort of balance here; its more like a non-linear sketchbook that mirrors our artistic ambitions, but, just as importantly, it also represents the general racket of society, and is thus intimately connected to the broader social or technical issues. Each production alludes to the issue and always from the point of view of our own interests or encounters.