China Expedisound
Expedisound is a collection of music and video works, created from a sound bank recorded by a group of music and travel lovers. Those sound banks, mainly composed of traditional music and local sounds representative of the countries, are provided to electro musicians in order to utilize the sound materials and give them a second life while respecting their origins.
The project China Expedisound-Yunnan is based on a collaboration between a Naxi traditional music orchestra from Lijiang in Yunnan province, the Bashaxili traditional orchestra, 17 European electro-musicians, and a Chinese video maker named Na Yingyu. After Africa Expedisound and Mongolia Expedisound, the French electro label I.O.T Records is producing China Expedisound - Yunnan.
Chinart's Mission:
The project China Expedisound-Yunnan is based on a collaboration between a Naxi traditional music orchestra from Lijiang in Yunnan province, the Bashaxili traditional orchestra, 17 European electro-musicians, and a Chinese video maker named Na Yingyu. After Africa Expedisound and Mongolia Expedisound, the French electro label I.O.T Records is producing China Expedisound - Yunnan.
Chinart's Mission:
- Facilitator during the residency period
- Art project consulting
- Project Management: developing and following up with the project
- Translation
Photos
CD set coming soon
“China Expedisound – Yunnan province” double record set is the product of a collaboration between I.O.T. Records Production cie, FULL Rhizome, and the traveling French association Dynamogénie, which aims to promote cultural exchanges.
This record is also the fruit of nine months spent in the broad Chinese empire, experiencing the Naxi people’s culture and their surprising shamanic rituals, such as in the Dongba culture. The Naxi are an ethnic group living on the pre-Himalayan plateaus of Yunnan province in Southwestern China.
The third volume of the series “Expedisound” is truly innovating. This time the musicians didn’t travel by trucks and they didn’t bring their sound-systems. Thanks to a smaller team, all of the trip’s exchanges went deeper and the relations were more intimate, allowing for the exploration of other artistic dimensions. It resulted in a documentary and a recording focused on a rare musical tradition. The ethno-electro music recording consists of a mix by more than twenty guest musicians from different countries, a sound bank, and many bonus videos which show us on the road from the north of China to the south.
The Double Record set consists of:
One record of Naxi Bashaxili Traditional Orchestra’s music
One record of electro music by various artists
One booklet
You can watch the teaser of the Record on Youtube.
This record is also the fruit of nine months spent in the broad Chinese empire, experiencing the Naxi people’s culture and their surprising shamanic rituals, such as in the Dongba culture. The Naxi are an ethnic group living on the pre-Himalayan plateaus of Yunnan province in Southwestern China.
The third volume of the series “Expedisound” is truly innovating. This time the musicians didn’t travel by trucks and they didn’t bring their sound-systems. Thanks to a smaller team, all of the trip’s exchanges went deeper and the relations were more intimate, allowing for the exploration of other artistic dimensions. It resulted in a documentary and a recording focused on a rare musical tradition. The ethno-electro music recording consists of a mix by more than twenty guest musicians from different countries, a sound bank, and many bonus videos which show us on the road from the north of China to the south.
The Double Record set consists of:
One record of Naxi Bashaxili Traditional Orchestra’s music
One record of electro music by various artists
One booklet
You can watch the teaser of the Record on Youtube.
Expedisound CD's covers
More about Expedisound
The Expedisound project has been initiated by techno travelers, or so-called electronic music nomads. Through this project, they wished to keep alive the spirit of this techno travel movement based on curiosity and intercultural exchanges.
In 2002, a group of techno musicians got in trucks and traveled throughout Western Africa. After seven months of powerful encounters and musical exchanges the first volume of our series was born: “AFRICAN EXPEDISOUND”. Three years later, the destination was Mongolia, wedged between China and Russia. This journey resulted in the launch of the volume “Mongolia Expedisound”. In addition to these two volumes, two vinyls was produced and a special issue focusing on Indonesia: Bagus Sekali Music, “INDONESIA EXPEDISOUND”, available only online.
For “CHINA EXPEDISOUND, Yunnan province”, the musicians didn’t travel by truck and they didn’t bring their sound-systems. This volume is the result of a collaboration between Chinart Management, I.O.T. Records Production cie, FULL Rhizome, and the French association Dynamogénie, which aims to promote cultural exchanges. Thanks to a smaller team, the journey and the exchange were able to go deeper and explore new artistic dimensions.
The trip’s main objective was to reach the Lijiang Studio, an unusual artist-in-residence program based in Yunnan province’s rural area. The program welcomes multi-dimensional contemporary art projects while encouraging interaction between contemporary art and local environment and culture.
Yunnan province, located in Southwestern China, proved to be an exceptional region, with gorgeous landscapes and endless ethnic diversity. The natives warmly welcomed the musicians into their well-preserved living environment which turned out to be quite fragile. In a country going through huge economic changes, the cultural gap between urban and rural areas is quite wide. Their experience in the countryside was like diving into a society still structured by traditions.
The encounter between the musicians and the film-maker Na Yingyu from Beijing has been essential for the orientation of the China Expedisound project. Na Yingyu brings his video camera all around China to observe musical traditions which still survive despite the transformation of the country. In fact, it was Na who introduced the Naxi Bashaxili traditional Orchestra to Dynamogénie’s team.
Baisha ou Bashaxili music is the traditional music of Naxi people, one of the ethnical groups of Yunnan province. This music has a history of 800 years, and is described as a musical fossil. It survived from the Han culture’s acculturation and almost disappeared during the cultural revolution. He Maogen, from Changshui village, was one of the few people who secretly continued playing it. He taught it to his children, and thanks to his passion he was able to gather the villagers around him and set up a traditional orchestra. He Maogen died in 2006, leaving to his two sons the duty of keeping alive this art of their ancestors. The musicians collaborated with the Naxi Basha Xili Traditional orchestra for three months to record their first CD. Rehearsals and recording sessions were mitigated by harvests, weddings, funerals, and meals shared with the villagers.
Besides the time spent on Naxi land, the trip throughout China provided the project with an amazing sound and image bank, including a large range of music, various ethnic groups’ rituals, exotic instrument tunes, and the prolific sounds of the cities. Many hours of audio and video recordings are the fruit of this Chinese adventure with a special focus on Yunnan province.
For each project of Expedisound, an temporary community was set up on site and later joined by electro guest musicians, designers, and all of the participants who took part in the execution of this eclectic project. This is how the Chinese journey resulted in three different productions, three faces of the same story for which music is the unifying theme.
The most innovative aspect of this Expedisound volume is that a part of the production is only available online. You can watch the documentary and videos and listen to the soundbank and more on the Expedisound project's website.
In 2002, a group of techno musicians got in trucks and traveled throughout Western Africa. After seven months of powerful encounters and musical exchanges the first volume of our series was born: “AFRICAN EXPEDISOUND”. Three years later, the destination was Mongolia, wedged between China and Russia. This journey resulted in the launch of the volume “Mongolia Expedisound”. In addition to these two volumes, two vinyls was produced and a special issue focusing on Indonesia: Bagus Sekali Music, “INDONESIA EXPEDISOUND”, available only online.
For “CHINA EXPEDISOUND, Yunnan province”, the musicians didn’t travel by truck and they didn’t bring their sound-systems. This volume is the result of a collaboration between Chinart Management, I.O.T. Records Production cie, FULL Rhizome, and the French association Dynamogénie, which aims to promote cultural exchanges. Thanks to a smaller team, the journey and the exchange were able to go deeper and explore new artistic dimensions.
The trip’s main objective was to reach the Lijiang Studio, an unusual artist-in-residence program based in Yunnan province’s rural area. The program welcomes multi-dimensional contemporary art projects while encouraging interaction between contemporary art and local environment and culture.
Yunnan province, located in Southwestern China, proved to be an exceptional region, with gorgeous landscapes and endless ethnic diversity. The natives warmly welcomed the musicians into their well-preserved living environment which turned out to be quite fragile. In a country going through huge economic changes, the cultural gap between urban and rural areas is quite wide. Their experience in the countryside was like diving into a society still structured by traditions.
The encounter between the musicians and the film-maker Na Yingyu from Beijing has been essential for the orientation of the China Expedisound project. Na Yingyu brings his video camera all around China to observe musical traditions which still survive despite the transformation of the country. In fact, it was Na who introduced the Naxi Bashaxili traditional Orchestra to Dynamogénie’s team.
Baisha ou Bashaxili music is the traditional music of Naxi people, one of the ethnical groups of Yunnan province. This music has a history of 800 years, and is described as a musical fossil. It survived from the Han culture’s acculturation and almost disappeared during the cultural revolution. He Maogen, from Changshui village, was one of the few people who secretly continued playing it. He taught it to his children, and thanks to his passion he was able to gather the villagers around him and set up a traditional orchestra. He Maogen died in 2006, leaving to his two sons the duty of keeping alive this art of their ancestors. The musicians collaborated with the Naxi Basha Xili Traditional orchestra for three months to record their first CD. Rehearsals and recording sessions were mitigated by harvests, weddings, funerals, and meals shared with the villagers.
Besides the time spent on Naxi land, the trip throughout China provided the project with an amazing sound and image bank, including a large range of music, various ethnic groups’ rituals, exotic instrument tunes, and the prolific sounds of the cities. Many hours of audio and video recordings are the fruit of this Chinese adventure with a special focus on Yunnan province.
For each project of Expedisound, an temporary community was set up on site and later joined by electro guest musicians, designers, and all of the participants who took part in the execution of this eclectic project. This is how the Chinese journey resulted in three different productions, three faces of the same story for which music is the unifying theme.
The most innovative aspect of this Expedisound volume is that a part of the production is only available online. You can watch the documentary and videos and listen to the soundbank and more on the Expedisound project's website.
