내마음

하은 - 아프고 화나고 미안해

Naïf de Coeur

Her last day in Hong Kong before she travels to Mexico for 6 months, Minnie had a million things to do and somehow squeezed an hour in to record this track.

We decided to record in Shatin Park near where she was staying. It was quiet that afternoon with very few people wandering about. There was a small pagoda on top of a hill we saw and walked to it to find a man resting inside. Lucky him! We set up and after a short warm up Minnie began her session. She had only 4 bowls and a few other objects so it was going to be a simple session.

‘Can we do another one?’ She asks to my surprise as we both had such tight schedules. How could I say no? The second shorter recording was more free, blending her voice over a sustained tone. The sun peeked through the clouds and trees giving a golden glow over everything. What a moment.

SBS on IT

Sound Bath Sessions 090: Minnie Cheung

This was recorded at PMQ in Candace’s studio. Tata Tse and Candace Cheung perform with a symphonic gong and crystal bowls. The mysterious gong paired with the flowing crystal bowls complement each other perfectly with their long sustained drones and multi-layered tones. Life beyond the space is also incorporated in the composition of the recording. A glass sorter on the street below mixes glass bottles together that creates a relationship with the bowls that Candace plays. The resonance of the bottles from the opposite buildings create an amazing sense of space.

Sound Bath Sessions 096: Tata Tse & Candace Cheung

Alfonso and Olivia are a couple that live in an intimate neighborhood in Kam Sheung. They are both artistic in nature which is what inspires their sound baths. Their sessions were more like abstract performances, an exploration of their instruments and their connection to each other while improvising. Alfonso played the metal singing bowls incorporating drones and various striking techniques while Olivia softly played broken melodies on a tuned tongue drum. 

The composition as a whole is a slow meditative performance that maintains its style throughout. An open door in their apartment welcomed the sounds from their neighbors and their daily chores to give it an identity and complete the piece.

Sound Bath Sessions 063: Alfonso Sum & Olivia Fung

I recorded Nancy in the hotel room where she was staying and she told me that she had brought her two gongs just for this recording. Nancy explores with random tempos, creative rhythms, and texture combinations using weighted mallets and elaborate striking movements around the gong. Some elements are unique to her style such as the way she creates ‘phrases’ in the composition by stopping for a few moments to give the listener a pause before creating another experience. “So much happens in that space”, she says.

For me, her sessions felt different. I didn’t feel like I was receiving the gong’s power, rather, it was that the gong was receiving hers. It was as if she let the gong explore itself, challenging it with every strike to reveal its overlooked beauty and letting it find its voice at that moment in time. I was a true spectator this time, fully conscious and in awe. What a wonderful session and well worth the wait. This was our third recording.

Sound Bath Sessions 144: Nancy Trueman

The third and final recording of Mic was back on the beach a Tuen Mun against a beautiful backdrop of breathing ocean waves and the distant throbbing of boat engines she performed he composition. Today her husband helped her bring a larger collection of bowls adding to the complexity of the days recordings. After the recording, we both had a really good feeling about the session. I felt as if she integrated the entire soundscape into the session, listening beyond the sound she made and treating life as an instrument. It is a beautiful piece.

Sound Bath Sessions 061: Mic Yeung

As I entered her studio in Kwun Tong, she had two small groups of crystal bowls. “I have a surprise for you, see if you can hear it.” She said. The piece started with a very somber tone. I felt there was a yearning, a calling in the beginning. She slowly transitioned to the second group which was more hopeful, and lively. This session was interesting because there was a predetermined concept for the composition that allowing her to freely improvise within its own limits. Ana has a large collection of crystal bowls and intimately knows each one. She does have a passion for music and her approach to singing bowls was more personal, molding her own style by exploring and experimentation. Her studio is next to a highway and a large construction site in Kwun Tong which is softly heard through the window of her space.

Sound Bath Sessions 059: Ana Chung

As soon as I heard her voice, I knew I had to record it. I met Rainbow at a wellness convention at the Tsz Shan Monastery in Hong Kong 2024. She guided an hour-long sound performance meditation with other HK sound practitioners. 6 months later, we were on a beach in Cheng Chau Island recording her first meditation. 

Rainbow guides us through a 'Body Scan Meditation' where the listener follows her guidance to connect with different parts of the body. It made me realize that I usually thought of my body as one balanced object. I took for granted that each part was a part of a whole, and paid attention only to what was out of balance. For the first time, I focused on each part testing the extents of the perception of my own body. 

Our spot was on the beach opposite from the ferry port with a view of the towers of Pok Fu Lam across the water. The mono track emphasized her voice over the turbulent ocean waves which helped to contain my attention and eliminate all thought.

Image by Michael James

김경록-01-사랑해 사랑해

shimjaewoon

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