What might the latent sonorities of ‘traditional’ instruments sound like if their tunings were unlocked for different modernities? Where might the diasporas of trans-Asian sonics intersect and rematriate?

Recorded on September 15th and 16th, 2023 this album features new compositions and semi-improvised work from 8 trans-Asian artists exploring southeast Asian tonalities using traditional instruments, digitized tunings, and sampled recordings.

Thanks to cooperation with Haus der Indonesichen Kulturen – Rumah Budaya Indonesia – Berlin (RBI), select instruments from their Javanese gamelan ensemble were sampled to create Berlin’s first publicly accessible sonic archive of Indonesian instruments and temperaments for electronic musicians.

Following the creation of the sample pack and tuning files, a short residency, open studio, and final performance series of new work using the materials was produced in collaboration with Morphine Raum.

Included with this album download is a PDF booklet where you can get historical background on the instruments and read interviews with stewards, artists, and researchers involved in this project.

The companion site at https://www.latentsonorities.org hosts the sample pack and tuning files recorded and developed by Bilawa Ade Respati and Khyam Allami, an Ableton Live Pack with custom Ableton Instruments by Morgan Sully and Khyam, a Native Instruments Kontact Library, as well as other resources for artists and researchers curious to expand their gamelanic palette.

This open archive has already provoked and stimulated public discourse around the complexities and nuances of musical rematriation, trans-Asian identity, and its political expression through non-Western temperament and tonality.

We hope it serves as a starting point for future exploration of musical cosmologies you may be curious about, a recentering beyond what is sonically inculcated.

This project is co-funded by Musikfonds e.V., Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien/The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media and supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore.

Album Credits:

Sample Pack Consultation, Recording & Digitization:

Bilawa Respati

Khyam Allami

Rabih Beaini

Morgan Sully

Musicians:

Bilawa Ade Respati

Cheryl Ong

Khyam Allami

Mo’ong Santoso Pribadi

Morgan Sully

Pinky Htut Aung

Tusa Montes

Wanton Witch

Mixed by:

Rabih Beaini @rabih__beaini

Mastered by:

Rashad Becker

Artistic Direction:

Morgan Sully

Album Artwork:

Cindy Putri @thckit

Booklet Layout:

Tina Lehnhardt @tina__lehnh

Jan Thedja @_jan_k_

Photography:

Eunice Maurice @hontoo9

Jan Thedja @_jan_k_