“aviators” was created by Hanae Azuma during the Harvestworks Workspace Residency program/Ircum Forum2022. This work is for Taiko and Shime-daiko (Japanese drums) and computer with four-channel speakers. It premiered on Oct 1st, 2022, at New York City’s Governors Island. The Taiko player for this premiere performance was Yoko Nakahashi.
[excerpt] (This was taken and edited by the host.)
[full] (This was taken by an audience's iPhone. Sound and video quality are not so good.)
[Description and Score]
Please download the pdf file from the link below.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YJq-i8VyqDbCZat3nV0F1bTQFtkoEh3D?usp=share_link
(Just in case the link does not work.)
- Introduction
“aviators” uses Taikos and live electronics, with a 4ch fixed media. At the end of work, the Taiko player improvised for about one minute using the passage of a traditional Taiko session.
- Concept
After the pandemic started, what I missed the most is traveling. Visiting NYC in the summer of 2022 is my first long-distance trip since the pandemic started. I was so frustrated because it was hard to get out of the country. This experience led me to use sounds from NYC as proof that I stayed in the city.
I especially missed traveling by airplane, and this feeling made me think to use the sound from aircraft. That is why use sounds from the heliport.
There are two main elements in this work. One is using sound from NYC. I recorded the sound from the traffic, the subway and a heliport. The other is using rhythms of the world. Thinking about traveling, my ambition from my childhood is a round-the-world trip. To put my passion into this work, I used several kinds of rhythms from certain countries/areas.
- Structure
The round-the-world trip starts from Japan and takes a western route.
<Hora-gai> (Triton's trumpet, improvised by Taiko Player)
Japan → China → India → Arabic → Africa →(Europe) Bolero → Flamenco → Irish → Samba → Swing → Polynesian → Japan
<Taiko improvisation>
Each part imitates and adjusts particular rhythm patterns based on the dance and music in each area
- Venue of the premier and Performance Setup
This performance was at the Harvestworks building (house) on Governor Island in NYC. I was supposed to use the outdoor space (small yard) near this building, but because of rain/a hurricane, I had to perform inside of the building.
Since the inside space was very limited and Taiko is too loud for that space, we needed separate. Taiko was on the porch, and I was inside next to the porch. The audience was with me inside of the building (house) surrounded by 4 channel speakers.
Here is a setting and speakers configuration.
- Information
Title: aviators
Composer/Producer/Mixing: Hanae Azuma
Taiko: Yoko Nakahachi
Year: 2022
Duration: about 16 minutes