RE:SOUNDING
– Performance with Ran Cap Duoi
About
Experimental Vietnamese band Rắn Cạp Đuôi are a playful and amorphous collective of musicians, designers, filmmakers and multi-media artists known for re-imagining the sonic potential of any given instrument. Here they team up with RE:SOUNDING lead artists James Nguyen and Victoria Pham to produce an electrifying new take on an instrument thousands of years in the making.
Interweaving mythologies and imagery drawn from the decorative elements of the Đông Sơn Drum, re:sounding is a musical project that recovers the voice of this 2000-year-old instrument. This performance connects the drum’s ancient past with the cultural present of Vietnam today, and unites Rắn Cạp Đuôi’s adventurous and irreverent musical spirit with original video narrative from James Nguyen and composer Victoria Pham.
Featuring two new commissions by Rắn Cạp Đuôi couched within the dynamic online environment that Nguyen and Pham have created for re:sounding, this fertile collaboration adds a new chapter to the history of an instrument central to the historical identity of Vietnam.
This world premiere will be performed by Salina Myat, Adam Cooper-Standbury and Hamish Upton, and viewers tuning in will also be able to chat live with Nguyen and Pham as the performance unfolds, discovering even more about this fascinating cultural artefact.
Integrated Audio Description
Lead Artists James Nguyen and Victoria Pham have produced the re:sounding Performance videos and Play app in collaboration with Audio Describer Imogen Yang to develop accessibility features for the project. As a work centred around RE:SOUNDING and voice, Nguyen and Pham have decided to incorporate audio description with diegetic sound, voiceover and the moving image as an artistic and functional intervention. The artists felt that it was important to use moving image in an experimental and considered way around the performance of music, narration, and audio description. This choice has enhanced how multiple audio components could sit together as a more integrated experience.
Premiere status
World Premiere
Presented by
- Presented by Arts House, City of Melbourne and Campbelltown Arts Centre as part of BLEED 2020
Artistic Credits
- Composition: Rắn Cạp Đuôi, Victoria Pham
- Premiered and performed (separately) by: Salina Myat, Adam Cooper-Standbury and Hamish Upton
- Lead Artist: James Nguyen
- Lead Artist: Victoria Pham
Supported by
- RE:SOUNDING is commissioned and presented by Arts House and Campbelltown Arts Centre as part of BLEED 2020.
- BLEED is conceived, produced and presented by City of Melbourne through Arts House and Campbelltown City Council through Campbelltown Arts Centre. BLEED has been assisted by the Federal Government through Australia Council for the Arts, its funding and advisory body.
- The RE:SOUNDING project has been supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body and by the NSW Government through Create NSW.
Schedule
This event occurred on Thursday 23 July.Watch
This was a free event.
Bios
Rắn Cạp Đuôi
Active for more than 7 years and going, The collective Rắn Cạp Đuôi, from composing, recording and publishing on their own in both digital and physical format. The members work in both sound-art and visual art and they work far from each other through the internet, they come both inside and outside of Vietnam. Their practice is presented mostly in live performances and recording in their studio in Dalat, Vietnam. Their work is characterised by influences ranging from various historical music movements and rock music, and also a variety of Southeast Asian ethnic music. Their performances are known for different approaches to acoustic and electronic instruments, using laptops, other types of electronic manipulation while also having spontaneous improvisation as their main focus.
Adam Cooper-Standbury
Born and raised in Canberra, Adam Cooper-Stanbury started playing drum kit at the age of 10.Switching to percussion in 14, Adam finished a high school studies in Canberra before moving to Sydney to study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Daryl Pratt and Shaun Trubiano. He is currently studying a Masters degree at the Sydney Conservatorium with Shaun Trubiano (principle percussion, Opera Australia Orchestra). In 2019, Adam was the Percussion Fellow with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Adam has performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and has performed extensively with the Australian Youth Orchestra. Adam has also played in lessons and masterclasses for some of the top orchestral percussionists in the world including musicians from the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Paris Opera, Cleveland Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Salina Myat
Salina is a NSW based percussionist and writer. She is currently in her final year of a Bachelor of Music Performance in Percussion at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has engaged in various orchestral programs outside of the conservatorium such as Sydney Youth Orchestras and Australian Youth Orchestra. She has also been a contributor to Cut Common magazine for casual review work and enjoys writing in her spare time
Hamish Upton
Hamish Upton is a percussionist who thrives on collaborating with chamber musicians. He is a percussionist in the BOLT ensemble, and has performed as an Argonaut at the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music, with Elision Ensemble, Speak Percussion and Ensemble Offspring. In February 2018, Hamish launched Ossicle Duo with Benjamin Anderson (Bass Trombone). Ossicle Duo are 2020 Local Heroes at the Melbourne Recital Centre, and won the contemporary masters prize for their performance of Mauricio Kagel’s L’art Bruit in 2019. Hamish is a member of Ad Lib Collective, working with fellow musicians on collaborative projects including educational outreach programs, and performances.
