Holly Herndon Body Sound

Body Sound was composed by Holly Herndon, in collaboration with choreographer and dancer Cuauhtemoc Peranda, and performed at Stanford University CCRMA (Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics). Peranda’s body acts like a voice, guiding the listener through this complex yet visceral piece. Herndon restructured the sounds of the dancer’s body to make an arrangement that is simultaneously rhythmic, fragmented, and incredibly physical. In real time, she spatialized the sound-body using ambisonics in a field of 8 speakers, while Peranda performed the original choreography, creating an uncanny duet of physical and virtual bodies. Body Sound is all about the dancer making contact with the ground; a dragged heels squeaks, his rolling torso sends tumbling shockwaves through the speakers, and each stomp of a foot is a blast of sub-bass. Herndon builds on this source material, taking time to bend the sounds into an abstract sculptural form, only to pause again and reveal the dancer’s sonorous breath.