Photos from Jitr จิตร: extended gong ensemble at DEMO2024 Closing Performance Night • WSA, Photos by Marion Aguas.
Network Gong Ensemble – Photo from Patterns Language at Astor Place Hair, New York, US, by geoff robertson (@gbrme)
Community Gathering Gong Ensemble – short clip from Patterns Language at Astor Place Hair, New York, US, by David Bates Jr (@davidjrdotcom)
Extended Gong Ensemble – Photo from Int-Act 2022: New Act Vocality and Transmutation at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Bangkok, TH, by Pathun Tothong. Courtesy of elekhlekha.
Jitr จิตร – the extended gong (ฆ้อง) ensemble is networked performance, collaborative sound making, and an extended branch from our process-oriented project, Jitr จิตร.
The two core pillars of Jitr จิตร extended gong (ฆ้อง) ensemble are. First, the aspect of community gathering that we can see in Southeast Asian indigenous practices. Another is the network connection of the gongs that connects through a MIDI connection between live coders.
Community gathering gong ensemble is communal and collaborative; its form is hypnotically repetitious, with melodies and rhythms spread out among the players using the hocketing technique in which a flowing line is distributed among all the musicians(David Toop.) Jitr จิตร extended gong (ฆ้อง) ensemble is also participatory, where we invite audiences like you to join in and make sounds with found objects, whatever you have in your pocket or with your own body!
The network gong democratizes interaction throughout each live coding performer, which is assigned to limited specific frequencies tied to Southeast Asian sound cultures and tunings, such as Karen(Myanmar–Thailand border), T’boli(Philippines), Vorayos(Thailand), and Khmer Loeu(Combodia), as a constraint to simultaneously create a ritual musical performance which is only possible when everyone is contributing, thus eliminating the role of dominant force and giving the agency back to each individual who participates.
Jitr จิตร – the extended gong (ฆ้อง) ensemble project is process-oriented and ever-evolving; each performance is its own very special version.
Past performances:
Photos from Jitr จิตร: extended gong ensemble at DEMO2024 Closing Performance Night • WSA, Photos by Marion Aguas.
Photos from Jitr จิตร: extended gong ensemble at DEMO2024 Closing Performance Night • WSA, Photos by Marion Aguas.
Photos from Jitr จิตร: extended gong ensemble at DEMO2024 Closing Performance Night • WSA, Photos by Marion Aguas.