Author: Debashis Sinha

Debashis Sinha's creative output spans a broad range of genres and media, from solo audiovisual performance projects and percussion on the concert stage to the interior spaces between 2 headphones.  
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the year of (the) theatre

I’m spending a lot of time in the theatre this year, with many great collaborators, doing plays, performance art/dance pieces, and contemporary dance performance myself (luckily, I will not be dancing but playing percussion).  It’s going to be a lively schedule and even more is in the pipeline.

As i work on the various pieces, often all at once (as is the fate of the full time artist trying to make a living) I find myself having to split my mind into many pieces – or rather, access that piece of my creative mind that is tuned to the project I currently have booted up and running on my computer.

With the many years experience I have accumulated, this is not as difficult as it used to be, but only because of one thing – when I take something on, I spend a lot of time trying to understand it, to put my finger and ear on the central tenet of what the thing is supposed to be.  In this I am helped by my many collaborators but principally the directors and choreographers, but I find that that understanding I seek before starting to construct the sound can come from anywhere – a movement, a word, a picture, or perhaps the set.  The important thing is to remain open and welcoming to that one piece or moment that will guide me.

Let’s all do that.  Happy new year.

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sound and theatre

i’m working at tarragon theatre these days, sound designing a double bill of amazing plays by hanna mocovitch with john gzowski.  as always in the theatre, i am struck by how the interplay of text and sound can go so right, and also so wrong.

we had a lot of ideas ready to go when we started, and then of course discarded most of them.  this is a good sign — it makes me think we are doing something right, supporting the words instead of restricting them.  the text of these plays is so natural, so perfect.  every “uh” and pause, every change of thought is scripted (and the actors are doing a terrific job of executing them, by the way).  there isn’t one superfluous utterance – every ellipsis in the script has a purpose.  it is quite sublime.

apparently this post has wandered away from sound.  but i betcha i’m going to think about this the next time i make an audio piece.

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tell your story.

that went well.

i’ve had occasion to think about social media and the tools it offers us, going to a talk hosted by bARTer ( http://ow.ly/gTJba ) with marketing types sue edworthy and ricardo mcrae (http://sueedworthy.ca/ and http://wedge15.com ).

what struck me most about the evening is that, for whatever way you want to talk about it, what connects us to each other online is not “branding” or “targeted market” or any of the other terms we might use: it is the fact that we share stories about each other. that each link and word we post is actually about ourselves. and if we keep that in mind then of course we are going to connect, to grow, and to build on what we have, and be greater/better/deeper that what we could be alone.

busy in the studio, sound design for the tarragon theatre (with john gzowski) on 2 beautifully written, chilling plays by hannah moscovitch. working on a remount of when the gods came down to earth, a video installation directed by srinivas krishna. more composition and planning for a new series of audio works.

see you soon. here or everywhere.

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new year

I suppose that basically every blog on the Internet is going to be doing a post such as this, but anyway: happy new year, and I hope to post more regularly.

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futility and new possibilities

i’ve always been of the opinion that to know something, you really need direct experience. not a controversial statement, i admit, but one i seem to invoke nearly daily in this age of ready information. so when i decided i needed to document some of my performance projects i was wary — what does that mean then, to document? how does it work? how can documentation become a part of the creative foundation of the project?

i’ll give it a shot:

http://vimeo.com/49171815

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sound and performance

there is a lot about digital sound, a particular kind of sound world that holds much fascination for me. in many ways the fascination is expressed in the act or process of making the sound around us audible, the exposure of the mystery that is in our atmosphere all around us, every day.

but being a musician, and maybe more so a percussionist, also demands a kind of engagement when i make and construct this sound into a work. and in the end, the process is fulfilling but not visceral—an important part of my connection to creating sound is lost through the keyboard, the midi controller, the mouse.

which is why i am so happy to have built tetsuo kogawa‘s radio transmitters, thanks to the help of naisa and hector centeno. for the first time in many years i have direct access to working with this world, a way to engage my whole being in the exploration of this mysterious realm.

enjoy.

http://soundcloud.com/debsinha/radiotransmitterimprov1

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music and sound

it’s bananas, but i wished for it.  here is what i’m up to: http://debsinha.com/

everything from cajon to sound installations.  being so swamped brings to the fore so many issues—time management, attention, mindfulness, focus, anxiety.  but then again each item crossed off the list brings a brief respite from all that.  i seem to be coasting in one now.  hope it lasts!

see you on the other side, and maybe in the middle of it at something.

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time

i’m on the road just now with minor empire, touring folk festivals and other venues in western canada.  and during this tour i am spending a lot of time not playing music (which is mostly what touring is sometimes, for those of you that don’t know).

i struggle with this—touring in general, and particularly when there are too many days off, is very taxing in many ways.  there is the going from 0 (waiting around all day) to 100 (being onstage in front of an audience), there is the not so nice hotel room, there is the having to spend energy meeting people, etc.

i am reminded of something that i was told while on a 10 day silent meditation retreat in bodhgaya. there was no hot water available to us during the retreat, and taking a shower was a major mental event because of this.  and the teacher offered us an insight  that a previous retreat attendee shared with him: “if i resist”, he said, “i suffer.  but if i accept, all that i am doing is taking a cold shower.”

i’m trying to take a cold shower.  but i miss my girls.