6th Sense

Traveling with My Sixth Sense《第六感之旅》– Lan Tung (2004)

- Graphic notation, flexible instrumentation, 4 players

We have all experienced this: without looking, we know that someone is staring at us. Do we really know? Or are we imaging it? Maybe when it does happen, we do not feel it at all. If we do know when someone is watching, then what does it make us know? Is the energy that we received from the other person? Are we capable of conveying this energy? Or is it some other mysterious reasons? This piece is an exploration of these questions.

Eye contact has been an important part in music making. However, it is avoided intentionally in this piece to test our sixth sense. In the format of a musical game, the musicians will take on different roles randomly throughout the piece: the Giver sends out energy by giving intense looks or reaching a hand into the physical space of the others, without giving any cues in sounds; the Receiver responds in improvisation without looking up; The Encounters are the ones who happen to look up at each other at the same time.

a structured improvisation … The theoretical – and theatrical – considerations behind the piece are complex… Lan’s attempt to harness the power of intuition paid off in a piece that showered listeners vivid blocks of tonal colour.” Georgia straight, March 2004

《第六感之旅》(Traveling with My Sixth Sense,2004),測試四位即興演奏家的第六感,不限樂器,採用純圖像記譜。

MP3 link recorded live at Western Front, Sonic Boom Festival,

March 12, 2004

Lan Tung – erhu,  Jonathan Bernard – percussion,

Ron Samworth – electric guitar, and Ya-wen Wang – accordion.