Bell Consort: A Sonic Meditation
- 2 minsThis short post is a sonic meditation in the spirit of Pauline Oliveros, which is partially influenced by the ringing of church bells during Easter sunday in Pescia, Tuscany.
Bell Consort (sonic meditation à la Pauline Oliveros)
Any number of persons, not fewer than four.
Divide into two approximately equal groups. One group is ding. One group is dong. Disperse throughout the space so that members of both groups are mixed.
Each person chooses a pitch that is easy in the voice, and sounds only the assigned syllable. Dings remain ding. Dongs remain dong.
Let each tone have a bell-like shape: clear attack, then gradual decay into silence. Let each repetition arise from an inner pulse, as steadily and as naturally as possible. The tempo should be moderate or slow.
Begin almost imperceptibly, listening continuously to the whole field of sound.
Allow pitch and pulse to remain steady long enough to hear how your tone meets the others.
When silence occurs, do not hurry to break it.
Continue until the sounding of bells, singly or in pairs, becomes clearly present to the whole group.
Variation I
All but one person close their eyes. The remaining person becomes the conductor.
All begin sounding as above.
The conductor moves quietly through the space, touching persons lightly in order to activate or deactivate them. A person who is touched while sounding gradually fades into silence. A person who is touched while silent gradually re-enters with the same syllable, choosing either the previous pitch or a new one.
The conductor should gradually reduce the group to one ding and one dong, so that a single pair comes into focus.
After some time, other pairs may be formed by reactivating and deactivating different persons. Several such pairings may emerge successively.
The meditation ends when the final pair is touched into silence.
Variation II
All participants move slowly through the space while sounding as above.
Each person listens for another person of the opposite group.
When two persons, one ding and one dong, become aware of a shared pulse, or mutual attraction of sound, they stop moving and face one another.
Those who notice such an encounter become still and listen.
After a time, the pair may separate and continue moving through the space. New encounters may then occur.
More than one pair may be established at the same time, as long as each exchange can still be clearly heard.
The meditation ends when one pair allows its exchange to come to rest, and the remaining sounds gradually disappear.