Just caught the documentary, "Touch the Sound" on the Documentary Channel (how I love that deep, deep cable). If you haven't had the good fortune to see (and, more importantly, hear) this doc, I can tell you that it's about Evelyn Glennie, the deaf Scottish percussionist. Glennie is nothing short of amazing. Her theories of human sense, from the point of view of someone who is "lacking" one, is engaging and inspired. "Hearing is a form of touch," she explains — not so much a physical sensation of two objects coming into contact but, rather, the ability to make a connection, beyond sensation. Glennie began to lose her sense of hearing as a child and eventually gave up on hearing aids. She can still "hear", because hearing isn't about having a working set of ears. It's about being sensitive to vibration, and letting the mind interpret that vibration... as sound, feeling, colour, smell, whatever.

One of the themes Glennie touches on in the film is the connection between breath and sound. As a singer, I've been aware of my breathing since I first began singing lessons as a child. A stronger, fuller breath meant you had more control over the note, and could produce a more powerful sound. When I started practicing Iyengar yoga, I discovered another way to use my breath — for meditation, slowing the pulse, and focusing the mind. I'd like to explore the relationship between breath, sound, and the mind. The next step will be to record some breathing, segment it, and work with its rhythm. Can you influence the breathing patterns of the listener by manipulating the sound of sampled breath? How will this affect their state of mind?