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I can't believe it's August...
The heat finally caught up with us here, in London, and aside from trying to catch some sun, I'm hard at work towards recording "Shiv'a" next month!
And I'm not the only one... it is fascinating to follow the process of sculptor Michelle Jaffe, as she's working on building the Blanket with 49 Bells - a new instrument that will be played throughout the "Shiv'a" by percussionist Satoshi Takeishi (see previous blogs to read more about this sound-sculpture)
Following our last Skype powwow, Michelle and I decided to change the backdrop fabric of the Bw49B. The previous one seemed too heavy, and the hem was showing... here are the old and new fabric:
To show me the size the instrument will be, Michelle took a photo of her wall of tools... The second photo shows the approximate layout of the bells, and the third shows the built "skeleton" of the instrument:
Michelle consulted with her father, Mr. Albert Jaffe, on how to make the blanket move "on command" in a ghost-like manner that is not apparent. Our initial thought was to do this with a fan - which we were surprised to discover, does nothing to move the blanket or the bells themselves... so Michelle and her father came up with a way to use small motors:
After a lot of hard work - the building of this sound-sculpture has come a long way!! Later today Michelle and I are meeting again online. I'm so thrilled to see the Bw49B for the first time!!
The job is not yet done, but we're definitely getting there!
The job is not yet done, but we're definitely getting there!
On my end of things - I'm spending my days mostly reviewing the score of "Shiv'a", making some corrections, and re-writing one of the movements of the piece. I'm hoping to finish all of this by the end of August, and to mail the final score to ETHEL and Satoshi!
THANKS to all of you who have pledged your support of this project by either pre-ordering the CD, or making a tax deductible donation! We're just over 20% there! All of the money goes towards helping us cover the expenses of recording + the making this beautiful sound-sculpture!
IF YOU'D LIKE TO ORDER YOUR COPY OR MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION, you can do so through this website:
Please feel free to forward this to (or buy a copy for) anyone you think would find this project interesting...
Much love, and more soon...
Ayelet
