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
-
(vi siger) A
a-a-a
afgjort
andre
absolut
gabt
man skal aldrig sige ALDRIG
a-a-a ↩ -
B i bide
bed
bedst
b i byde
bøffer til børn
buldre
bumle
i båd med
bårer
b-b-b ↩ -
C i cirka
cerut
centrum
cyst
C i Carl
Christian
Charles
chat
c-c-c ↩ -
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 ↩ -
e-e-e
eeeeeeeeeeee
vi finder fisk
Erik Edith
evig eros
eeeeeeeeeeee
e-e-e ↩ -
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 ↩ -
G i gidder
vi har gæld
og guldfisk
G i gal
Grethe
Gurli
Gorm Gunnarsen
og Glas og Glad og Glæde ↩ -
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 ↩ -
iiiiiiii
i i dirk
pirk
i Iris’ iris
i i ivrig
i Sidsel og Stine
i tidsel
og ilde og ild
iiiiiiiiiii ↩ -
J med JA
JA-siger
JA tak
JA-snak
JA-kabale
JA JA
JA
JA JA ↩ -
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 ↩ -
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 ↩ -
vi siger M
Og Emma
vi siger MUUUU-UUU
MÆÆÆÆÆH
MIAUUUUU
Vi ser en mandig martyr
og en måbende moster
i Møgeltønder
mmmm ↩ -
vi siger N
nnnnnnnnn
næ-næ-næ Niels
nø-nø-nø Nanna
nej nej Nynne
naaa(r) Naaa(r) Normann
nu nu NU-HANSEN ↩ -
(vi siger) O
ooooooooo
Oh Ove
Oh Olsen banden
Oh Olivia
Oh for en solo
Oh la la
Ole Bole gik i skole ↩ -
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 ↩ -
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) ↩ -
rrrrrrrr
r som rive
riverasende
riverosende
riverød
riverusten
riverigtig
rivegilde
rivejern
rrrrrrrrrr ↩ -
ssssssssss
S som Slange
SlangeSug
SlangeSøgen
SlangeSpøgen
SlangeBøsse
SlangeSlang
Slangebid
ssssssssss ↩ -
T som tak
takketale
takketorden
takkelyn
takketrick
takketider
takkelage
T takker af ↩ -
U som ud
ud med ugler
ud med ulve
ud med udenrigsministeren
ud med utøj
ud med urkraft
ud med ugeblade
uuuud med uuuuuuuu ↩ -
V som Vagn
V som vej
vej til Vildskab
vej til Vipperød
vej til Verden
vej til Vandet
vej til Virkeligheden ↩ -
w i walkman
w i wc
w i weekend
w i wigwam
w i wok
w i world wide web ↩ -
X som ti
XX tyve
X som Xtra
Xtra AXel
Xtra faXe
Xtra Xantippe
Xtra straX
xxx ↩ -
y som yndig
yndigt y
yndigt n
yndigt d
yndigt i
yndigt g
yndefuldt ord
yyyyyyyyyyy ↩ -
z som zipzap
zap til zar
zip til zulu
zap til Zoo
Zip til Zink
Zapzigzag ↩ -
opdagelse
oplevelse
opfyldelse
opstandelse
opkaldelse
opvældelse
opførelse
opgørelse
optagelse
opforstørrelse ↩ -
øndigt y
øndigt n
øndigt d
øndigt i
øndigt g
øndefuldt ord
øøøøøøøø ↩ -
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.