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About some of the soundtracks...
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 The Crystal
Palace and The Crystal Heart Meditation
with mind body therapist Kyra Lober 1990 Two 30 minute pieces supporting Kyra's guided meditations. Kyra wanted
the music to help create strong visual images of her described scenes and encounters and to support the various
breathing techniques she introduces. The music needed to sound like a bejewelled forest, a cave with a clear pool
of water, a crystal palace, and be supportive of the rhythm of the breathwork.
During the recording, crystals were placed throughout the studio, lights were dimmed and incense burned. These
rituals were sympathetic with Kyra's work and enhanced our collaboration and the musical interpretation of the
text.. (see links)
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Womensound/Feminvoix
with Maya Lightbody, ceramic sculpture for
the "Earth Mothers" show at the Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal 1993
This piece is composed of 4 vocal tracks which sigh and murmur and sing snatches of melody. The second track was
recorded wth the first then the third while only listening to the second, the fourth while only listening to the
third. Then the tracks were layered in 14 different combinations. The result is a composition suggesting emotional
aspects of female energy and experience, where motifs repeat in unexpected and subtle ways, unifying the whole
while moving through ever shifting layers of sound.
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The Guardians
with Maya Lightbody, ceramic sculpture for "The Guardians" show at the Canadian Guild of Crafts,
Montreal 1995
This piece began with visits to the artist's studio, discussions of the pieces and creating the music in the same
time frame as the sculptures were created. There were guardians of the ocean, the trees, the universe and many
more. They stood in the studio space like sentinals resonating with their own mythological roots. In writing the
music, Allyna imagined these beings walking in a solemn ritualized procession. She created tiny character pieces
for each guardian, timed for the pause of each viewer before each piece yet universal enough to influence the viewing
in a variety of ways. The basic soundtrack is played with soft mallets and guitar picks directly on the strings
of the grand piano. Over this was layered clay hand drums, rattles, a peruvian flute and other percussion instruments.
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Oceaniam (Hyoide)
with dancer Lee Saunders
Atlantic New Dance Festival 1995
 Dancer Lee
Saunders asked Allyna to write a piece for a section of her piece, Hyoide, called Oceaniam in which the lights go
up on stage to reveal a huge ball of paper. Lee Saunders unravels herself out of the ball of paper in an eight
minute choreograph from one side of the stage to another. To complement the sound of the paper and and Lee's singing
of a rather free vocal piece called Oceaniam, Allyna created a piece using four tracks of ocean waves recorded at
various speeds and rhythmically mixed in the studio, resulting in an extravaganza of white noise and a mysterious
powerful sound whose origins are now disguised.
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Sophia's Daughters
with Liz Davidson, mixed media; Maya Lightbody, ceramic sculpture and Stansje Plantenga, paintings
 Maison
de la Culture Cote des Neiges, Montreal 1996
When Allyna began to work with the artists creating les Filles de Sophie she asked the artists to give her words
which described the kind of sounds they envisioned hearing with the final installation. Mountains growing/bleeding
through/deep resonance from earth's centre/earth moving through space / whispers / silence / stars twinkling /
eternal verity / earth's breathing is suddenly heard/wailing keening/creaking trees/vaguely remembered....so the
composer was given a rather large challenge! Allyna then asked the artists to give her single words to whisper.
They were enormous / vision / winter / mist / through / diamond / place / incubate / essential / time. The ten
words were reordered into five"poems" which formed the whispering track, layered on the sounds of metal
chinese exercise balls dropped and rolled on piano strings, a heartbeat, a harp played by the wind, the sound of
the wind. The piece was composed using 6 tracks of sound, one pair for each of Sophia's daughters: Faith, Hope
and Charity.
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Orifices with
Monique Girard, painter and Brigitte Graff, dancer and choreographer Galerie Horace, Sherbrooke and Salle Jesu,
Montreal 2000
This was a truly collaborative work, with painter working from dance gestures and composer absorbing the gestures
and paintings in process and bringing soundtrack ideas to group sessions. The show consists of five triptichs,
each representing one of the five senses as experienced through our orifices, hence the title.
The resulting choreography was danced at both vernissages and the soundtrack played continuously throughout the
show. Allyna began with footsteps, receding and advancing down corridors, climbing and descending stairs, walking
running...The footsteps were then ordered into a series of footstep events. Over this were sighs and moans, sniffs,
and eating sounds, cries and laughter, a harp played by the wind, delicately tinkling bells, great piano work,
including a bow to Bach. The soundtrack had a great sense of simultaneous space and intimacy, primal, sometimes
ominous sounds were layered with sounds of innocence and playfulness. The result was a fascinating work which created
an imaginary world in which to experience the paintings.
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The Musicians
of Bremen with Tim Gosley puppeteer
Centennial Theatre and Bandeen Hall, Bishop's University, Lennoxville and The Haskell Opera House, Stanstead 2002
 Tim Gosley, longtime puppetter
for such programs as Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock, also pursues a career as a scriptwriter as well as creating
new puppet shows for live performance.
The Musicans of Bremen is pure magic! Lights and puppets behind a negative projection screen give a three dimensional
feeling to this classic Grimm fairytale (with Tim's personal embellishments) Allyna was thrilled to be asked to
improvise a piano soundtrack to accompany the live narration and the visuals as in a silent film. The show has
been so far been performed in english, french and german. To book The Musicians of Bremen contact tgosley@attglobal.net
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Allyna
Harris with various artists, dancers, wordsmiths..
