On The Fringe Of A Whale's Tail by Kay He

On the Fringe of a Whale’s Tail for piano and electronics is written for pianist Josh Straub. The piece attempts to describe an artist’s world. It is sentimental, unreal, and full of adventures, creativities and conflicts. Artist is not a manufactory profession, is an explorer with dreams. As artists, it is our responsibility to show our powerful emotion of our beautiful mind and imagination to the world, and also fight with the harsh and uninspiring reality. Imagination is the most powerful weapon.

The pianist is on the stage alone, creating much fascinating sound on piano. It is the lonely reality of how an artist individually exists in this world, just like standing on a whale’s tail. The electronics, based on pre-recorded sounds of the piano, is the little universe he/she created by his/her imagination. It is deep, dramatic, inspiring, exciting and colorful, like the ocean. Processed piano reveals this mysterious world, which sings simultaneously with the live piano. They are tangled with each other. The audience is unable to distinguish what is real and what is the imagination. Mic’d piano with live effects represents how creative passion evokes inspiration and imagination, which sometime contrasting with the reality.