ID#: 705

Sound Of Nangqên (2025) ; 10:30

by Jiayue Wu

University of Colorado, Denver

Sound of Nangqên is an electroacoustic audiovisual composition that explores the interplay between sound, space, and culture, inspired by Tibet’s “Highland of Zen” in Nangqên County, Qinghai Province, China. Fully permitted, supported, and funded by the Nangqên County, the local monasteries, and the Tibetan people, this work immerses listeners in the region’s rich spiritual and cultural soundscape, integrating 20 gigabytes of field recordings—encompassing natural environments, local voices, folk songs, daily life, and traditional Tibetan instruments—with analog and digital electronic processing. Through both performance and cinematography, the piece highlights the esteemed Tibetan Buddhist community, capturing contemporary spiritual practices while showcasing the depth and beauty of its cultural arts. Real-time electronics and Tibetan soundscape collaboratively shape the musical structure, offering a dynamic interplay between organic and synthesized sound sources. The celletto serves as a Western sonic observer, complementing the novel orchestration of ancient Tibetan ritual instruments such as the dungchen, rol mo, damaru, and kangling. These elements are woven into a sonic and visual montage, creating a fusion of tradition and modernity that reflects the evolving Tibetan soundscape. This work extends beyond documentation, engaging in a recontextualization process where ritual performances and individual instrumental recordings are restructured into an orchestral composition. By combining field recordings, electronic synthesis, and instrumental reinterpretation, Sound of Nangqên presents an innovative approach to sonic storytelling, encapsulating the transformation and preservation of Tibetan cultural identity in a rapidly changing world. This project is not a cultural appreciation, but an artistic and ethnographic exploration that demonstrates how technology can mediate and amplify the experience of deeply rooted cultural traditions, offering a meaningful connection for contemporary global audiences.