Echo And Pup

Project Pitch - Whalesong

Echo And Pup — Interpretive Whalesong Studies & Rotational Notation Development

Artist: Echo And Pup
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Format: Durational sound performance / acoustic research project
Duration: 20-60 minutes (variable depending on venue)

Project Overview

Whalesong Studies is an ongoing series of experimental compositions for a choir of antique Tibetan singing bowls. The project explores how the slow, resonant properties of these instruments can translate aspects of large-scale natural sound environments, particularly whalesong; into acoustic performance.

Rather than imitating these sounds directly, the work investigates how extended tones, overtone interaction, and spatial resonance can evoke similar temporal qualities and listening conditions. Performances unfold slowly, allowing subtle sonic changes to emerge over time and encouraging audiences to engage with sound through attentive, reflective listening.

Echo And Pup performs seated as a wheelchair user with the bowls arranged in a circular field around the body. This spatial arrangement allows continuous physical interaction with the instruments and emphasises the embodied nature of resonance, vibration, and acoustic space.

Research Focus

The project is also a platform for developing rotational notation, a custom compositional system designed specifically for singing bowls.

Rotational notation explores how patterns of sustained excitation, density shifts, and instrumental interaction can be documented and reproduced in future performances. Through this work, Echo And Pup is investigating how singing bowls might function as structured instruments within contemporary experimental composition rather than purely improvisational or ambient objects.

The research investigates several key questions:

How can extended acoustic resonance be structured as repeatable musical form?
How do overtone interactions change across different spatial arrangements of bowls?
How can slow durational listening reshape audience engagement with sound?

Audience Experience

Performances create an open listening environment rather than a fixed concert format. Audiences may choose to sit, lie down, or quietly move through the space, encountering the sound field from different positions.

Listeners are not expected to experience the full duration of the piece from beginning to end. Instead, the work functions as an evolving acoustic environment that audiences may enter and leave at their own pace.

Development Goals

This project is currently in a research and development phase, exploring how singing bowl composition can be structured and performed within contemporary sound art contexts.

Development opportunities would support:

experimentation with acoustic space and resonance
testing new compositions within the Whalesong Studies series
continued development of rotational notation as a compositional framework
documentation of the work through recordings and performance studies

Technical Requirements (Basic)

Quiet acoustic space
Floor area approximately 3-4 metres diameter
Seating or flexible audience arrangement depending on venue
Minimal lighting requirements

Contact For More Information

Echo And Pup
Melbourne, Australia

Website:
https://www.echolocation.studio