Dajuin Yao
CINNABAR RED DRIZZLE
POST 001 CD digipak
"Cinnabar Red Drizzle" is a collaboration between sound artist Dajuin Yao and avant-garde writer/opera-vocalist Jerlian Tsao. Despite of, or in contradiction to, his iconic, fetishistic approach to sound, Dajuin's works often point to allusions and issues outside of the acoustic. On this record the composer is mainly concerned with the sound of literature, or spoken Mandarin words, the meta-narratology of writing with sounds and writing with the actual sounds of writing, sonified concrete poetry, algorithmic poetry as improvisation, etc."Cinnabar Red Drizzle" is a dark journey into the hitherto unknown sonic world of Mandarin literature. It is a phantasmagoric collage of varied sound sources with abundant allusions and imagery that traverse far in time and space — from New Year's firecrackers in urban Taipei to the rubbing-printing from calligraphic steles in the ancient capital of Xi'an; from classical chinese Kunqu opera to political satire constructed from an intercepted 3-way cellular conversation about the written Chinese script; from a deadpan poem read in the rain to a contemporary fiction about affairs between humans and ghosts in 12th-century Sung Dynasty....
This is musique concrete that is poetically-incorrect and aesthetically untrendy. This is sound art that listens towards the unknown.
TRACKS
1. cinnabar red drizzle
2. endless frustration
3. words without a song
4. green sofa story
5. writing of sounds of writing
6. warbling orioles returning
7. garden of memories
total time - 73:54
Compositions, real-time & false-time controllers, recording - Dajuin Yao
Voice - Jerlian Tsao
Text - Jerlian Tsao (4, 7); Tang Xianzu (2, 6); Dajuin Yao (3)
Algorithmic poetry programming - Dajuin Yao (1)
Recorded 1998-1999 at Sounding Gourd Studio, Berkeley
"Garden of Memory" was composed as music for dance for the 1999 International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Beijing, and premiered by the Beijing Modern Dance Company in October 1999
Design - wénzì concrète
Copyright © 1999 Juxiang Music/Post-Concrete
SOUND SOURCES:
tr. 1. pipa (originally an improvisation piece written for real-time computer-generated poetry, narrator, pipa, and live computer)
tr. 2. Kunqu operatic phrase and traditional ensemble music
tr. 3. poem read in winter rain
tr. 4. text read by author
tr. 5. firecrackers and sounds of writing: writing on a laptop computer, writing on paper, taking calligraphy rubbings from 2000-year-old steles, discussions on writing, etc.
tr. 6. a single poetic phrase taken from the 16th-century Kunqu opera "Peony Pavilion"
tr. 7. author reading her story set in 12th-century china(all vocal parts and all of tracks 4, 6 & 7 were made entirely from spoken Mandarin - no singing was involved)
REVIEWS:
"I love it! Very beautiful." — Joel Chadabe
"... I have listened to [Cinnabar Red Drizzle] many times, it is one of my favorites in my current listening selection. Bravo!" — Carl Stone
"... Dajuin Yao's "Cinnabar Red Drizzle" is a very good, fascinating album of electroacoustics. At the heart of each of the seven pieces reside literature, either oral (in the form of spoken mandarin) or written (the sounds of writing -- script and typing). The music develops a meta-discourse on the act of creating words while focusing on the musicality of mandarin, an engrossing paradox. Avant-garde poet/opera singer Jerlian Tsao provides the vocal matter. Her recitation and vocalizations are computer-processed and integrated to field recordings to create some brilliant works of musique concrte. Some pieces also call for instrumental input. "Cinnabar Red Drizzle" includes pipa (a Chinese lute), live computer and "real-time computer-generated poetry." The piece deconstructs the traditional language of the pipa the same way it does with mandarin, in a kaleidoscope of sounds that have a certain Cagean indeterminacy. "Endless Frustration" transforms a short recording from a traditional court music ensemble into an ambient piece that sounds like an endless stone hall. "Writing of Sounds of Writing" is the most ambitious piece of the set by its length (20 minutes) and concept, but it works less well, its various sections lacking in articulation. Here and only here language becomes a barrier as the Chinese-deaf listener misses what seems to be a crucial dimension of the work. The closing "Garden of Memories" is Dajuin Yao's crowning achievement, a mesmerizing piece of processed vocals, beautifully constructed. "Cinnabar Red Drizzle" goes beyond mere exoticism: it is equal parts Chinese and electroacoustic, finding a path that unify the two traditions." ****
— Francois Couture, All Music Guide
"Working exclusively on simple forms of expression - such as the human voice or the act of writing - and mixing the results with masterful electroacoustic canvases, Dajuin Yao created a fantastic record, one of the most intense and beautiful sound works I've ever come across in decades of listening. Yao's sense of sound placement is astoundingly perfect; his style is never poor or - on the contrary - overexceeding certain limits. He always seems to bring a high spiritual value to any of the pieces contained here; from the initial "Cinnabar red drizzle", in which a pipa is sampled and reworked in a delightful mixture of computerized treatments of voice and instrument, to simple poetry read in the pouring rain ("Words without a song"), Dajuin is always on the quest for the deepest emotion. Even the most "technical" pieces maintain an aura of sacred delicacy and somehow are evoking ghosts from the past: the highest point has to be the truly awesome "Endless frustration", in which treated voice and a powerful orchestral drone left my mouth open for several seconds. This was my first approach to Yao's art: no doubt I'll be looking forward for more."
— Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes
"Incredible experimental ambient record that uses an Asian female speaking in Mandarian as source sound. Sometimes this voice is not effected, only straightforward poetry readings or text, but then in other parts it drifts into a vast, ambient wall of wavering sound, far removed from its vocal source. Totally unrecognizable and darkly beautiful. Very melancholic; a laudanum mist surrounds each track, whether voices or drift-textures. There is a wispy, deep gender-based sound here, almost like the male and female mixing. Amazing how many ways this sound is used, and how beautifully each piece is woven together. The voice is not a gimmick, you mostly can't tell what the source sound is, but when you do know it makes it even more breathtaking to hear a wispy siren in the mist, but then a dark, droning, wavering cloud fill the room, or later a mumbling refrain from an open window, a city street. It's the many styles that Yao manages to cover with the voice without sounding confused or like he doesn't know what to do with his medium. It has a definite, clear confidence to its presentation. I could listen to this over and over again, so many unexpected and welcome scenes to discover around each track."
— Vince Harrigan, Manifold Records
"Dajuin Yao has created a CD that is exquisite and unique. Yao weds traditional Chinese musical sounds with an aesthetic that bridges East and the experimental West . He aptly calls his work "poetically-incorrect electroacoustic mandarin musique concrete." The composer lovingly treats the musicality of spoken Mandarin as a terrific sound element, alternately melding and contrasting with his finely processed sounds. 'Cinnabar red drizzle' is real-time computer-generated algorithmic poetry. Its sound sources are the traditional Chinese pipa and voice. 'Endless frustration' is a beautiful drone texture that draws upon highly processed sounds of Chinese opera and traditional ensemble music. The effect is of a wind-swept desert. 'Writing of sounds of writing' is about the act of writing. Its sounds are the sounds of writing, spanning thousands of years of technology, from calligraphy rubbings to lap top computers. Also included are 'Sords without a song', 'Green sofa story', and 'Warbling orioles returning,' and 'Garden of memories.' Performances by Dajuin Yao (compositions, real-time and false-time controllers, texts, and recording), Jerlian Tsao (voice and texts), and Tang Xianzu (texts)."
"Ce disque de 'chinese musique concrète', publié par le label Post Concrete, basé à Berkeley, est défini comme la découverte de la musicalité du mandarin, lorsqu'il et déconstruit, 'un collage fantasmagorique de voix traitées par oridnateurs, de textes anciens et modernes, de voix d'opéra, de sons concrets enregistrés en Chine, et poésie générée par des algorythmes à l'aide d'ordinateurs.'
Pour créer sept titres, Dajuin Yao a collaboré avec l'auteur, poétesse et chanteuse d'opéra Jerlian Tsao, qui fournit la mtière vocale de cet album. Le résultat est très avant-gardiste : on est loin, très loin des musiques chinoises exotiques. Dans le même temps, on retrouve quelques sons issus de la tradition musicale du pays, mais placés dans un contexte futuriste.
Etonnant."
— Jean-Marc Grosdemouge, M-la-Music
"Wie traditionelle chinesische Folklore in Form von digitalisierter musique concrète zu rezipieren ist, weiß ich so gar nicht, da mir noch nie Ähnliches in die Hände gefallen ist. Natürlich bleiben auch die langen spoken word-Passagen in Mandarin absolut rätselhaft. Da helfen die kurzen Beschreibungen wie 'poem read in winter rain' oder 'author reading her story set in 12th-century china' nur sehr bedingt weiter. Hier Referenzen anzubringen wäre wohl voll daneben, da lässt sich ohne Überraschung und ehrlicherweise wenig zu sagen, außer dass Yao sehr einzigartig Stimme und Sound in neue Symbiosen webt und ihr alle unbedingt dieses Album hören solltet." *****
— Ed Benndorf, de:bug magazine, #69, March 2003
"De cd Cinnabar Red Drizzle van Dajuin Yao toont aan dat het mogelijk is om traditionele Chinese muziek toegankelijk te maken voor een breed publiek met de nieuwste computertechnologieÎn. Geen makkelijke opdracht om aan de clichès en aan de verlokkingen van het exotische te ontsnappen. Vele muzikanten gebruiken samples van Chinese instrumenten op een weinig originele, simplistische en repetitieve manier om een zeker oriÎntalisme in hun werk op te roepen. Yao gebruikt de Chinese elementen nooit in het wilde weg. Hij gebruikt ze alleen als middel om zijn eigen gevoelens uit te drukken en om nieuwe artistieke wegen uit te zoeken. Een prachtvoorbeeld is 'Endless Frustration' waarop hij oud en saai traditioneel geluidsmateriaal (opera en traditionele Chinese ensemblemuziek) verwerkt tot iets heel dieps en persoonlijks. Een ander voorbeeld is het wondermooie 'Words Without A Song', waarop Jerlian Tsao een gedicht van Dajuin Yao voorleest met als enige achtergrond een tropische regenstorm."
— Peter Wullen, Urban Mag (Belgium)