The Squid's Ear Magazine
Victo Buy 5 for $7.00 Sale !



Blonk, Jaap: Traces of Speech (Kontrans)

Sound poet Jaap Blonk extended the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) into BLIPAX (Blonk's IPA Extended), developing scores as drawing which are converted into electronic sound through audio software and then back to text through OCR to create these unusual spoken audio pieces.
 

Price: $17.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 1.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Jaap Blonk-voice, composer, performer


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 8713896903522

Label: Kontrans
Catalog ID: Kontrans 760
Squidco Product Code: 21869

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2014
Country: Netherlands
Packaging: Cardboard sleeve
Recorded in Arnhem, Netherlands, July 2012.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Around 1985 I started to write sound poetry. At first I used the common Latin alphabet, with different pronunciations for the individual poems (Dutch, German, French, English). But after a few years I found this too much of a limitation and learned the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), making it possible to use different pronunciations of the same letter in one text. So I could create poems with more variety of sound color.

However, only too soon I found out that the IPA did not have symbols for many of the voice sounds I used to make, and started to extend it with signs of my own invention. This developed into the - ever unfinished - system I am using now for functional sound poetry scores: BLIPAX (Blonk's IPA Extended).

It turned out that many of the symbols of BLIPAX were not contented with an existence as dead letters, but took on a life of their own. They kept changing their form, as it were, under my hands as I was trying to notate a score. It resulted in drawings that live somewhere halfway between sound poetry and visual poetry: Traces of Speech.

The basic idea for this book/CD package was: firstly, converting the drawings into electronic sound by importing them (mostly as raw data) into audio software, and secondly, converting them into texts (in English and German) through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. Each of the three forms (drawings, sound and texts) were then subjected to further treatment.

In the case of the texts I got, the greatest challenge in reciting them was the interpretation of the multitude of punctuation signs. I tried to create some variation by doing it in radically different ways. The book has seven 'chapters'. Each has its own theme, and each begins with a handmade drawing, followed by some digital treatments of it, and ending with two versions of the OCR texts created from it. On the CD I combined electronic sounds and text recitations of the different themes into seven sound environments. Here I refrained from pursuing any personal expression."-Jaap Blonk, Kontrans


Artist Biographies

"Jaap Blonk (born 1953 in Woerden, Holland) is a self-taught composer, performer and poet.He went to university for mathematics and musicology but did not finish those studies.In the late 1970s he took up saxophone and started to compose music.A few years later he discovered his potential as a vocal performer, at first in reciting poetry and later on in improvisations and his own compositions. For almost two decades the voice was his main means for the discovery and development of new sounds.From around the year 2000 on Blonk started work with electronics, at first using samples of his own voice, then extending the field to include pure sound synthesis as well.He took a year off of performing in 2006. As a result, his renewed interest in mathematics made him start a research of the possibilities of algorithmic composition for the creation of music, visual work and poetry.

As a vocalist, Jaap Blonk is unique for his powerful stage presence and almost childlike freedom in improvisation, combined with a keen grasp of structure. He has performed around the world, on all continents. With the use of live electronics the scope and range of his concerts has acquired a considerable extension.

Besides working as a soloist, he collaborated with many musicians and ensembles in the field of contemporary and improvised music, like Maja Ratkje, Mats Gustafsson, Joan La Barbara, The Ex, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and the Ebony Band. He premiered several compositions by the German composer Carola Bauckholt, including a piece for voice and orchestra. A solo voice piece was commissioned by the Donaueschinger Musiktage. On several occasions he collaborated with visual computer artist Golan Levin, for the Ars Electronica Festival.

Blonk's work for radio and television includes several commissioned radio plays.He also makes larger-scale drawings of his scores, as well as visual poetry, which is being exhibited.

He has his own record label, Kontrans, featuring a total of 25 releases so far. Other Blonk recordings appeared on various labels, such as Staalplaat, Basta, VICTO, Ecstatic Peace, Monotype Records, Terp and Elegua Records.His book/CD 'Traces of Speech' was published in 2012 by Hybriden-Verlag, Berlin. Forthcoming is a sequel with the title "Traces of Cookery".A comprehensive collection of his sound poetry came out as a book with 2 CDs in 2013, entitled "KLINKT"."

-Jaap Blonk Website (http://www.jaapblonk.com/Pages/biography.html)
5/7/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Gossip of Truth 6:08

2. True Secret 8:32

3. Secret Impediment 7:33

4. Impeded Pretext 8:56

5. Proof of Gossip 6:54

6. Pleading Pretext 11:02

7. Plea for Proof 9:41

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Solo Artist Recordings
Blonk, Jaap

Search for other titles on the label:
Kontrans.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Blonk's, Jaap Retirement Overdue (w/ Petruccelli / Stadhouders / Rosaly)
New Start [2 CDs]
(Kontrans)
The first working band for Dutch vocal improviser Jaap Blonk in 20 years, as he passes 65 years and is clearly NOT ready for retirement, assembling Miguel Petruccelli (Native Aliens Ensemble) on guitar, Jasper Stadhouders (Cactus Truck) on bass, and Chicago ex-pat Frank Rosaly on drums for a double CD of new work, collective improvisation and reworked Blonk classics.
Rosaly, Frank (w/ Blonk / Boye / Farha / Pfiffner / Bishop / Broste / McBride / Diaz / Fernandez / Guerra / Rodriguez)
Todos de Pie!
(Kontrans)
Examining the music of Puerto Rico through a very personal relationship, drummer Frank Rosaly assembled a group of percussionists along with trombonists Jeb Bishop & Nick Broste, bassist Nate McBride, pianist Ben Boye wind player Cameron Pfiffner, and Dutch avant-free vocalist Jaap Blonk, all using electronics and voice as they push the boundary of genre and concept.
Cong, Zhao
Rotating, Rotating
(Hitorri)
Three solo tracks by Zhao Cong, who develops suspenseful sonic environments over which she inventively and patiently adds daily objects, sounds from her mixer, condenser microphone, her voice, a cardpaper tube, no input feedback, contact microphones, and a home ballroom light, each piece evolving with a unique disposition towards certain associative sounds; fascinating.
Blonk, Jaap
Songs of Little Sleep
(Kontrans)
Dutch vocalist and electronic artist Jaap Blonk takes on insomnia in 13 short works celebrating sleeplessness, including one piece for Dada sound poet Raoul Hausmann, and other "songs" using effective electronics and bizarre vocal utterances to accompany your own sleepless nights.
Blonk, Jaap / Damon Smith
Hugo Ball: Sechs Laut- Und Klanggedichte 1916 (Six Sound Poems, 1916) [CASSETTE]
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Three free improvisations for voice & double bass + improvisations on Hugo Ball's Six Sound Poems from the duo of free improvising vocalist Jaap Blonk and double bassist Damon Smith.
Blonk, Jaap / Cor Fuhler
Pre-Zoic Cellways
(Kontrans)
Blonk, Jaap / Makagami Koichi / Paul Dutton / Phil Minton / David Moss
Five Men Singing
(Les Disques Victo)



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Miimo
Miimo 5
(Amorfon)
The alternative dub steelpan trio of Yoshio Machida (steeldrums, voice, percussion, electronics), Tatus (bass, voice & electronics) and Norihide Saji (drums, laptop & electronics) for 10 tracks of embraceable tunes including a cover of Miles Davis "All Blues".
Miimo
Miimo 4
(Amorfon)
Using bass, drums, steelpan, electronics and programming, the trio of Tatsu, Norihide Saji and Amorfon label leader Yoshio Machida create a "pulse dub" album of polyrhythms and phase, producing warm, complex and embraceable music that includes a cover of Bjork's "Hyperballad".
Elyakim, Dganit
Failing Better
(Aural Terrains)
Using electronics and voice, composer & sound artist Gtanit Elyakim presents a diverse set of compositions in collaboration with other acoustic, voice and electronic artists, a superb debut for an artist interested in aspects of the human and the digital paradigm.
Mazur, Rafel / Keir Neuringer
Diachronic Paths
(Relative Pitch)
A beautifully evolving set of duos, or "paths" from Philadelphia saxophonist Keir Neuringer and Polish bassis Rafal Mazur, using monumental technique to support a dialog that's technical and intensely focused while remaining lyrically sophisticated and imaginative.
Kay, Martin
Courtyards
(Herbal International)
Sound artist Martin Kay focuses on the intimate and visceral symphony of domestic activity reverberating throughout a variety of shared courtyard spaces in Paris, using field recordings from various locations to examine their distinct acoustic characteristics.
Kwang, Goh Lee
Innere Freuden / Internal Pleasures
(Herbal International)
The title of this work for a cross-wired analog DJ mixer from Goh Lee Kwang translates to "Internal Pleasures", as he finds unexpected sounds from the noise floor of his equipment, which he develops into 7 untitled sound works of hiss, hum, controlled feedback, and rich sound.
Blechmann, Tim / Goh Lee Kwang
DRONE
(Herbal International)
Recorded at Herbal International headquarters, Finders Art Space in Kuala Lumpur, Tim Bleichman and label founder Goh Lee Kwang reunite for this album of no-input mixer and laptop, an extended work of powerful sound, glitch, and indescribeable sonic environments.
Koch, Hans / Thomas Peter
Wucherungen
(Herbal International)
A dynamic set of wind and object improvisations from multi-reedist Hans Koch, using extended techniques to elicit a diverse and astounding range of sounds from his instruments, and Thomas Peter creating indescribable sound on amplified objects and live electronics.
Camoes, Joao / Jean-Marc Foussat
A La Face du Ciel
(Shhpuma)
Portugese violist Joao Camoes, living in Paris, in a duo with Jean-Marc Foussat on electronics and voice, which he approaches like those of the acoustic improvised music and free jazz; the two present two long works where Foussat processes and extends Camoes' sound.
Goncalves, Andre
Currents and Riptides
(Shhpuma)
Andre Gonvalves, known for the ADDAC System brand of modular synthesizers and several devices for electronic music, in a solo album combining analog and digital sounds and tools, processing of field recordings and ready-made materials, a rich and beautiful work.
Hawkins, Alexander / Evan Parker
Leaps in Leicester
(Clean Feed)
Established players on the London and European Free Jazz scene from two generations, saxophonist Evan Parker and pianist Alexander Hawkins come together for a duo of remarkable insight, technical skill, and inventive dialog from two masterful players.
Lexer, Sebastian / Steve Noble
Muddy Ditch
(Fataka)
Two live sets of exemplary improvisation: the first revelatory encounter of pianist Sebastian Lexer and drummer/percussionist Steve Noble from 2011, and a more considered and spacious meeting in 2014, both from London's Cafe OTO.
Parker, Evan / Seymour Wright
Tie the Stone to the Wheel
(Fataka)
A meeting between two accomplished saxophonists recorded live at Kernel Brewery, in London in 2014, and at The Studio in Derby, with Seymour Wright on alto saxophone and Evan Parker on both alto and soprano, criss-crossing and combining in exuberant and astonishing ways.
Szuszkiewicz, Kamil
Robot Czarek
(Bolt)
Using saxophone and electronics in unexpected ways, Warszawa composer Kamil Szuszkiewicz's 9 movement "Robot Czarek" is described as a "sound cartoon", using odd punctuation of voice and effected interactive instrumental interjections to tell his libretto's strange tale.
Keller, Beat / Reza Khota Play Christian Wolff
11 Microexercises
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Christian Wolff initiated his "Microexercises" series when the Miniaturist Ensemble asked for a piece with no more than 100 notes in it; he went on to create 21 more pieces, 13 of which are performed here by the South African duo of Beat Keller & Reza Khota on electric guitar.
Frey, Beuger / Duo Contour
Duos
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)
The duo Contour of Stephen Altoff (trumpet) & Lee Forrest Ferguson (percussion) perform Antoine Beuger's "dedekind duos" dedicated to mathematician Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind; and Jurg Frey's "22 Sachelchen" or "small things", 22 focused miniature compositions.
Beuger, Antoine
Two . Too (For Erwin-Josef Speckmann) [2 CDs]
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Jurg Frey on clarinet and Irene Kurka on soprano vocals perform Wandelweiser composer Antoine Beuger's extended composition "Two"; then the duo of Rhodri Davies on harp and Ko Ishikawa on sho are layered on the first recording, creating a refreshingly new take on the piece.
Beuger, Antoine
Silent Harmonies In Discrete Continuity
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Antoine Beuger's minimalist work for American painter Marcia Hafif, known for her monochrome paintings, in 24 tonal works each 3 minutes long using stationary waves of eight frequencies from a different octave and punctuated by silence.
Pisaro, Kathryn Gleasman
Beuger.Cage
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)
One composition each from Antoine Beuger and John Cage performed on the oboe by Kathryn Gleasman Pisaro; Beuger's work presents tones in regular intervals offset by silence; Cage's piece uses pitch and tone color with microtonal inflections, mutes and harmonic fingerings.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC