FIVE TALES                                                  (2012)

 

 

Composed by Jens Hedman and Paulina Sundin

Commissioned by Audiorama, Stockholm

Economic support by the Swedish Arts Council

First performed at Audiorama, Stockholm November 23, 2012

 

Duration: The whole piece is 34 minutes long, divided into five movements which all may be played separately as pieces in their own right. If a shorter version is desired part 3 of 13 minutes is a good choice.

 

 

PROGRAM NOTES

 

We follow five people moving from their home countries to Sweden. What brought them here? How do they see Sweden? What is it like to leave your homeland and come to a new culture?

 

In their own language, they talk about their home country, their sense of loss and longing. Slowly the five personalities are woven together by their experiences of Swedish culture. The piece contains a level of storytelling based on interviews, albeit in fragmentary form. The languages spoken are Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Kurdish and Russian. You do not need to

understand the language in order to appreciate the music.

 

"We have selected languages that are not too common in Sweden. We did not use English, a language known to most Swedes, because we sought to use voices more like instruments and encourage listening to the melodies and universal human emotions in language. The voices interact with a web of environmental sounds and instrument sounds from around the world. Many of the instruments were recorded from the Swedish Music Museum's vast collection of ethnic instruments. The music moves in all three dimensions around the audience and encloses them in an ever-changing world of sound.”

 

 

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

 

The piece is specially composed for a 17-channel speaker set but an 8-channel and a 5.0 mix is also available. Technical requirements for performance is:

 

• a computer with ProTools

• a sound card (or two) with 17 or 8 separate analog outputs

• 17 or 8 speakers + subbas

 

The stereo version for you to listen to was made with a dummy head surrounded by the 17 speakers. Please listen in headphones to get an idea of the surround effect.

 

Setup for 17 channel sound

4 levels of speakers:

Level 1: one speaker in the middle of the ceiling

Level 2: 4 speakers in a circle one meter below

Level 3: 8 speakers in a circle about 1,5-2 meters from the floor

Level 4: 4 speakers at floor level

 

Setup for 8 channel sound

8 speakers in a circle about 1,5-2 meters from the floor

 

See more setup information in this pdf:

 

 

 

 

 

PERFORMANCES

 

Audiorama, Stockholm, first performance, November 23, 2012.

Audiorama during

PICA - Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, as part of ICMC2013.