The Sound Grammar PDF
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Charlie Abdullah HaddadThe Sound Grammar PDF
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Charlie Abdullah HaddadTHE SOUND
The aim of this performance is to build an organic grammar that can connect the body, the movement and the
sound in a single language.
The elements are organized and connected in a structure which reflects the shaping and developing of a
language.
The sound, in this framework, is a facet of the overall construction and follows the same rules. There is a
grammar where all the elements interact and find a new form of evolving, based on some kind of natural,
physiologic rules and where the sound is not just simply an help for building up a performance, but it is a
constitutive element.
The sound is constituted by 3 elements:
• the alphabet
• the grammatical rules
• the syntax
Here below there is a schema that depicts the architecture of our sound system.
The alphabet
As any language (mathematic, Chines, machine language, English,….) the first block is the identification and
coding of the symbols, the shaping of an alphabet.
The sound alphabet is subdivided in what we have defined as vowels and consonants .
The vowels are the sound generated by the
- vocal strings.
A contact microphone will be placed over the performer throat in order to capture their vibration.
The consonants are the sounds created by the body. They can be sub-classified in
- percussive
- internal sounds
- sliding/contact
The percussive sounds are generated by the slamming of the hands over the body, or by any other similar kind of
approach.
The internal sounds are generated by the hearth beat, the stomach, the breathing.
The percussive sounds and the internal ones will be recorded by a second contact microphone placed at the
height of the diaphragm.
The sliding/ contact are all the sounds generated by the friction of different parts of the body and the body with
other elements (i.e. the floor) .
To capture these kinds of sounds a cage of condenser microphones will be built on stage.
The microphones will be hanging from the ceiling on a quadrangular shape and placed at different heights from
the floor (40-80-120-160 cm), so then they will be able to capture different body sounds.
The performer will enter that space in order to produce this specific category of so called consonants.
The grammar
The second level of our language is constituted by the so-called grammar . The grammar gives the rules of how to
use the alphabet and how to combine the elements together.
The grammar is directly then linked in terms of the body, to the nature of the movements and in terms of sound to
the quality of the sound and the effects that can be triggered.
As we previously have defined, the vowels are the sounds generated by the vocal strings. We can use different
parts of our body to make these strings resonating differently.
We can use:
- the guts
- the lungs
- the throat
- the mouth
- the head
as a resonating chamber for our vocal strings.
It is since ancient times that it has been established a link between different points of the body (which are also
connected to energetic points ) and the sound frequency. The vowels can be rearranged in the same way: as we
emit sounds, an audio effect will transpose in terms of frequency the originated sound, allocating every different
body resonating point to a specific range domain (i.e. guts belong to a low frequency range and head to a high
frequency one).
Furthermore, the sound quality can be affected also by the movement, the body can modulate the sound emission
not only making it resonating into different body parts used as resonating chambers. A body which is in a specific
position can modulate the sound and as it is shifting to a different position, also the sound will be produced in a
different way. For example, if we talk and our body is in a tense position, the originated sound will be totally
different than if we are in a relaxed position. In this case, we will enhance the so obtain natural modulation,
adding a layer of synthetic effect that evolves following the body movement.
This category of effects will be connected to the movements all in terms juxtaposition as:
- tension and relaxation
- unbalanced (dynamic) and stable
- whispering (internal ) and throwing out (external)
Every category of body movement will be combined to a specific sound effect and as the performer will move,
also the sound effects will be generated.
The syntax :
* To be developed in a future stage *
As the body, the movement and the sound have generated their alphabet and also their grammar, meaning the
rules that allows the elements to be combined and to form a structure. The syntax now is intended to be the stage
at which these elements are located in the space, allowing the communication towards the outside. The language
so created, can also be used in order to communicate to an outside entity. With the syntax we are finally able to
communicate, meaning also then, be able to interact with the space.
The syntax indeed, in terms of sounds apply to all the sound spatialization. Eight speakers will be placed in a
circular shape and the audience will be surrounded by this sound system.
The two performers can control the sound movement. The sound will follow their movement through the space. If
the two performers are trying to use their language and communicate, the sound will move from perf. A to B and
or vice versa, depending on who is generating the communication.
If, for example, performer A will begin and he/ she is not facing the perf B, then anyway, the sound will travel
around the space to finally reach perf B. In this way, the syntax is always able to put humans onto a
communication level. We are finally able to relate humans. Our grammar has reached the level of being usable.
Now the performer(s) can start using it and create a new language where the body and movement generate the
sound, but also the sound triggers the body movement in a fluid and continuous interaction.
