Compose Your Words. Albany, NY: Intelligent Arts. Short eBook, 42 pp., 2014.
From the marketing statement: Compose Your Words is short eBook about making music with the spoken word. It’s fun. It has a history with artists through the 20th century. It’s an exciting and enjoyable way to be creative. As Landy writes: “Think of the wide range of vocal sounds, including words, that we can use in a spoken poem. Imagine what we can do with our voice as an instrument of performance.” Landy takes you through the process of composition in a simple progressive sequence of 26 steps labelled from A to Z, some of which he created, many of which are based on works by well-known artists. He starts with simple rhythmic patterns and ends with technology and space. He writes: “I don’t want to put words in your mouths, take my words for it. I do want you to enjoy this and create.” And we, at Intelligent Arts, want everyone to enjoy and create. Send your compositions to us at cyw@intelligentarts.net. We may put them online for everyone to hear.
Table of Contents
Title Copyright Acknowledgements Fore word
Section 1: Getting started A Start with something simple B Rhyme sequences with syncopated rhythms C Alphabet soup D Back to the future E The art of repetition F She will rock you
Section 2: Some techniques G Interpreting words H Expansion/contraction of texts I Replacement J Juggling words K Modular approach L Take a (musical) structure
Section 3: Looking elsewhere for materials M Music of words N Music of ??? O Other found objects P Foreign languages Q Recorded vocal samples R The odd one out
Section 4: Onward beyond the word S Phonemes T Non-linguistic utterances U The ‘mouth orchestra’ V The studio: montage W The studio: sound X The studio: voice synthesis
Section 5: Spacing out Y A new dimension Z Perform it anywhere
Back word