Sound Waves

Japanese sound designer Yasuhiro Morinaga will talk about music inspired by conversations,ethnic tunes and wildlife in a workshop.

IN THE year 2009,when Japanese sound designer and music director Yasuhiro Morinaga was creating the sound track for Singaporean artist and director Ho Tzu Nyens film titled Earth,he went through the sound tracks of several movies from across the world. After browsing through the works of the pioneers in world cinema,including filmmaker Steven Spielberg,yesteryear Indian actor Guru Dutt and Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray,the result was a song comprising the soundtrack of 1000 movies put together. Every five seconds,the track rings with recognisable pieces from movies such as Mission Impossible,Jurassic Park IV,Jaws and Star Trek .

The idea is to create history of movies from the point of view of sound, says the 32-year-old. He is in the Capital to conduct a two-day workshop titled Aesthetics of Sound Design and Field Recording on June 1 and 2 at Gati Studio in Khirkee Extension. The idea is to explain the importance of sound in everyday life through films and performances.

The works of Morinaga,who specialises in sound and music for contemporary dance and films,have been showcased at the Cannes Film Festival,Venice Art Biennale,Venice Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival. Armed with a microphone,Morinaga,popular as a field recording artist,travels across countries,mountains,churches,cities,islands,communities and jungles in his effort to record ethnic music,oral communication,and wildlife and environmental sounds.

As Morinaga goes through the content on his laptop ,the folders titled Paris,Italy,Malaysia,Indonesia and Morocco stand as a photographic testament of the places he has visited in his quest to record sound. In one of his photographs,microphones can be seen facing the sea,while Morinaga sits on top of barren land with mountains in the background. I was trying to record the sound of a cow that was drinking water from the shore and the sounds of the insects underneath the water, says Morinaga. In another photograph,Morinaga is seen placing a recorder in front of a few women in a Moroccon house,while they are merrily making oil. It is a common custom to sing when these women perform chores. I wanted to record their songs, he adds.

The Japanese composer informs that his next project is in Irpinia,a village in southern Italy,which has witnessed many earthquakes in the past. Its neighbouring villages have been completely destroyed. He says,I plan to have a concert for the people in this town and make the people,who used to live in the villages earlier,become aware of sounds that existed before the earthquake. It is almost like archiving their sound history,which can vanish any moment.

Despite not enough support in this field,Morinaga doesnt want to end up being just a sound technician. Then you become like a robot. I like giving an artistic approach to sound, he concludes.