Vocal Production Notes
to the KyPoetry recording of the poem, The Poet, written by Kylyra
The PoetIn the dustbin of the world The poet lies bleeding Railing against the light Against the night-blooming poison Stealing sacred dreams And dew-fresh flowers. His hands foreign things His mind a maze of menace To his soul; He lost his words to the wind. The moon judges him coldly, A pencil shaded figure Vomiting black ink. The poet is no more; Only the dust remains. |
I used five vocal tracks on this piece. Most notable is my attempt to split this poem into two separate viewpoints. I used one vocal track with my usual room reverb for the poet's voice. This voice speaks the second stanza: Railing against the light Against the night-blooming poison Stealing sacred dreams And dew-fresh flowers. which discusses the conflict from the poet's perspective. This voice is also used on the stanza: The moon judges him coldly, A pencil shaded figure Vomiting black ink. This was done to capture the feeling that people who have died and returned to life often describe: they have memories of floating above their bodies, looking down on themselves. This is how the poet sees himself in that moment: coldly lit by the moon, shaded in darkness, vomiting blood that looks black in the night. The second main speaking voice has a downward pitch shift and delay effect added. This is the voice of the moon and the universe. I wanted it to carry an omniscient aspect to it, a depth of wisdom not included in the poet's voice. This voice states the title of the poem, subtly reinforcing the idea from the start that this poem is told retrospectively; the poet is already dead and cannot speak. |
