Lydfabet

  • sound montage · with Vagn Steen
  • 15′

  • 2006–09

The Lydfabet is a sound-poetry piece created in collaboration with the Danish poet Vagn Steen. A series of 29 vignettes each lasting 30 seconds. A journey through the Danish alphabet within a quarter of an hour.

A 1 , B 2 , C 3 , D 4 , E 5 , F 6 , G 7 , H 8 , I 9 , J 10 , K 11 , L 12 , M 13 , N 14 , O 15 , P 16 , Q 17 , R 18 , S 19 , T 20 , U 21 , V 22 , W 23 , X 24 , Y 25 , Z 26 ; Æ 27 , Ø 28 , Å 29


  1. (vi siger) A
    a-a-a
    afgjort
    andre
    absolut
    gabt
    man skal aldrig sige ALDRIG
    a-a-a 

  2. B i bide
    bed
    bedst
    b i byde
    bøffer til børn
    buldre
    bumle
    i båd med
    bårer
    b-b-b 

  3. C i cirka
    cerut
    centrum
    cyst
    C i Carl
    Christian
    Charles
    chat
    c-c-c 

  4. D som godt DUM
    DUM som en direktør
    DUM som en dommer
    DUM som Don Juan
    DUM som en digter
    dum dummere og DUMMEST
    dum dum
    dum dum
    d-d-d-d 

  5. e-e-e
    eeeeeeeeeeee
    vi finder fisk
    Erik Edith
    evig eros
    eeeeeeeeeeee
    e-e-e 

  6. lille fugl og fe
    fugl der fisker
    fugl der flyver
    fugl der fanger
    fugl der finder
    fugl der fugler
    fugl der føder
    og kommer først 

  7. G i gidder
    vi har gæld
    og guldfisk
    G i gal
    Grethe
    Gurli
    Gorm Gunnarsen
    og Glas og Glad og Glæde  

  8. vi siger H
    h-h-h
    huu hej Hekse
    hå-hå-hå hovsa
    hi-hii-hiiilsen
    hu-hu-hu Hulke
    hø-hø-hø høst
    hå-hå-hå-hånlig
    hy-hy-hy-hyyyleskægt
    hu hej vilde hyl
    h-h-h-h 

  9. iiiiiiii
    i i dirk
    pirk
    i Iris’ iris
    i i ivrig
    i Sidsel og Stine
    i tidsel
    og ilde og ild
    iiiiiiiiiii  

  10. J med JA
    JA-siger
    JA tak
    JA-snak
    JA-kabale
    JA JA
    JA
    JA JA  

  11. vi siger K
    k-k-k
    Kirsten sidder i Kulden
    of Kyser Katten ud
    hun siger Kåbe
    Kårde
    hun køber Kørvel
    og Kalder på Karl 

  12. vi siger L
    og holder tungen
    Lige i munden
    llllllllllllllllll
    Der er Lys og Lus
    der er Løbesod hos Lone
    der er lørdag og låneloft
    latteren er lammet
    lllllllllllllllll  

  13. vi siger M
    Og Emma
    vi siger MUUUU-UUU
    MÆÆÆÆÆH
    MIAUUUUU
    Vi ser en mandig martyr
    og en måbende moster
    i Møgeltønder
    mmmm  

  14. vi siger N
    nnnnnnnnn
    næ-næ-næ Niels
    nø-nø-nø Nanna
    nej nej Nynne
    naaa(r) Naaa(r) Normann
    nu nu NU-HANSEN 

  15. (vi siger) O
    ooooooooo
    Oh Ove
    Oh Olsen banden
    Oh Olivia
    Oh for en solo
    Oh la la
    Ole Bole gik i skole  

  16. vi siger P
    p-p-p
    p som pære
    p som post
    p som pive
    p som Puste
    p som PYT med det
    p-p-p 

  17. qu-qu-qu quinde
    qu-qu-qu quæde
    qu-qu-qu qualer
    qu-qu-qu quiz
    qu-qu-qu quickstep
    qu-qu-qu Q-8 
    qu-qu-qu sq (sgu) 

  18. rrrrrrrr
    r som rive
    riverasende
    riverosende
    riverød
    riverusten
    riverigtig
    rivegilde
    rivejern
    rrrrrrrrrr 

  19. ssssssssss
    S som Slange
    SlangeSug
    SlangeSøgen
    SlangeSpøgen
    SlangeBøsse
    SlangeSlang
    Slangebid
    ssssssssss 

  20. T som tak
    takketale
    takketorden
    takkelyn
    takketrick
    takketider
    takkelage
    T takker af 

  21. U som ud
    ud med ugler
    ud med ulve
    ud med udenrigsministeren
    ud med utøj
    ud med urkraft
    ud med ugeblade
    uuuud med uuuuuuuu  

  22. V som Vagn
    V som vej
    vej til Vildskab
    vej til Vipperød
    vej til Verden
    vej til Vandet
    vej til Virkeligheden 

  23. w i walkman
    w i wc
    w i weekend
    w i wigwam
    w i wok
    w i world wide web 

  24. X som ti
    XX tyve
    X som Xtra
    Xtra AXel
    Xtra faXe
    Xtra Xantippe
    Xtra straX
    xxx  

  25. y som yndig
    yndigt y
    yndigt n
    yndigt d
    yndigt i
    yndigt g
    yndefuldt ord
    yyyyyyyyyyy  

  26. z som zipzap
    zap til zar
    zip til zulu
    zap til Zoo
    Zip til Zink
    Zapzigzag 

  27. opdagelse
    oplevelse
    opfyldelse
    opstandelse
    opkaldelse
    opvældelse
    opførelse
    opgørelse
    optagelse
    opforstørrelse  

  28. øndigt y
    øndigt n
    øndigt d
    øndigt i
    øndigt g
    øndefuldt ord
    øøøøøøøø  

  29. Å som Århus
    Ålborg
    Horsens
    som overstyrlig
    overdådig
    orke
    snorke
    som
    Otto og Oscar
    å-å-ååååå 


Background

During 2005 I first discovered and found inspiration in the sheer joy and playful creativity in the works of the Danish poet and author Vagn Steen. During the sixties he was one of the first Danish poets to make use of a computer in composing a poem and in our digital age I have found some fascination in the hands on aspect of the cardboard punch cards that were used to program computers at the time.

Many of his poems are structured by their (typo)graphic layout and I was wondering how these graphic poems might be presented through the medium of sound alone.

The Lydfabet

With the idea that it might be interesting to record Vagn reading some of his poems and then use the recordings as the basis for a series of sound pieces I suggested that we use the alphabet as a means of ordering the large pile of poems available.

In the event Vagn ended up composing a new series of short poems based on each letter of the Danish alphabet. With the scheme of a poem a day for the month of April 2006 we began a daily ritual of recording and listening to the results. It soon became clear just how different the sound of the Danish language is from its written form and Vagn often returned to the writing board and made the appropriate adjustments or re-compositions. After this initial process of writing, reading, recording and listening I began to dissect and reassemble the sound files of the final poems in order to further bring out various aspects of the sound of each letter.

Structure:

The short poems which provided the point of departure for the Lydfabet are in their electronic extensions placed against a structural grid based on a numerological table which assigns a number to each letter of the alphabet:

1 = a i j q y
2 = b k r 
3 = c g l s
4 = d m t 
5 = e h n x
6 = u v w
7 = o z
8 = f p

This table has been used in assigning a tempo and time signature as well as reverberation/delay time to each letter.

Form:

The basic material was originally intended for use in semi-improvised live electronic performances and exists as a ‘set’ – put together with Ableton’s ‘Live’ software – which means that within the defined set structure there is freedom to improvise and shape the materials in various ways depending on mood and context.

The final form for the fixed recording found here is a series of 29 vignettes of 30 seconds each. A journey through the alphabet within a quarter of an hour.

PREMIERE

The Premiere of the Lydfabet at Møllegade’s Book Shop, Copenhagen, 23.05.09.

eBOOK

Download the Lydfabet as an eBook for listening/viewing in iBooks on your iPhone/iPad or Mac.

(Other eBook readers should work too but haven’t been tested.)

MORE:

See some of Vagn’s poems in versions for the web by Christian
Yde Frostholm

Also take a look at some very inspiring examples of Swedish concrete poetry from CYF’s website: afsnit p.

For an interesting example of concrete poetry taking place at the other side of the world see South African Willem Boshoff’s KYKAFRIKAANS which has also recently been given an aural interpretation.

And to round it all off: one of my favourite visual representations of the alphabet on the web – Oliver Reichenstein’s iABC.