Essence of Voice

One of the things I really enjoyed in writing the book, was using words to describe sound. Music is, by definition, an aural experience. The challenge of conveying that in words was a fun one to undertake. But I also brought back video, which captures both the audio and some of the visual that I described as well. I have to admit that reviewing video was crucial for me in being able to reconstruct many parts of the book. This video was interesting enough to me that I described exactly what’s unfolding on the video, and thought I did a pretty good job, but the video still eclipses it in my opinion. You just can’t convey the essence of voice in words. And that’s a good thing.

If you have the book, re-read the last paragraph on page 168, then watch the video and note the following:
-Pemba, is next to me on the left in the red cap distributing tea, no doubt
-The police officer on the far left was with our company and did the silly dance with Milan and Maina. Here he is doing his regular job as security at the concert.
-People have asked me what Nepali language sounds like. To me, it sounds like he is singing in Italian.
-Milan must have been standing just behind me because he shouts “Yes!” when the kids sing along.
-You can hear the kids behind me singing even before Mingma gives the ones in front a chance to sing.
-The orange light humming.
-Mingma singing at 12,000 feet – amazing voice and how did he do that (they all did) so effortlessly with so little air! He even has enough extra to holler out to the crowd in the middle of the verse. Heh.

Yes, I am still marveling! Hope you are too.