Uploaded July 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Follow Warren @
Twitter: twitter.com/__WarrenJay
Instagram: instagram.com/__WarrenJay
Follow Albert @
Facebook: facebook.com/sleightlymusical
Twitter: twitter.com/THEalbertchang
Instagram: instagram.com/sleightlymusical
You can support us by purchasing the track here:
http://loudr.fm/release/puffs-of-smoke/dCRBT
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My friend Warren approached me earlier this semester and asked if I wanted to collaborate with him on a spoken word piece he had written a few years ago. He told me:
"Just weeks after graduating high school, one of my closest friends suffered a sudden, massive bleed in his brain that sent him into a deep coma. The bleeding was due to genetic disorder that tightened the blood vessels in his brain and caused them to burst from the increased pressure. The disease is called Moyamoya, which is the Japanese word for "puff of smoke," named so because in scans the bleeding spreads out like wispy tendrils of smoke. After two months in a coma, Carol passed away at age eighteen from an illness he didn't even know he had. These are my words to him."
I was immediately on board after I heard him perform his piece. When I went to compose the music, I drew inspiration from a video by Shane Koyczan and Hannah Epperson. In their spoken word piece, "Remember When We Forgot?," Hannah accompanied Shane's voice on the violin, using a looping pedal to create the illusion of an orchestra being present. For me, I found that by using a looping pedal, we would have the intimacy of only having a single voice and violin, but be able to shape the intensity of the piece by adding and subtracting melodic layers.
Later, we performed this piece live at our college and received great responses from our audience. Therefore, I thought I'd like to share that performance to a larger audience here on my channel, in the form a short film.
Author and Performer: Warren Jay
Composer and Violinist: Albert Chang
Director and Video/Audio Editor: Albert Chang
Videographer 1: Chloe Shih
Videographer 2: James Kang
Special thanks to Roger Sheu and Shannon Burns for their help behind the scenes!
Follow Warren @
Twitter: twitter.com/__WarrenJay
Instagram: instagram.com/__WarrenJay
Follow Albert @
Facebook: facebook.com/sleightlymusical
Twitter: twitter.com/THEalbertchang
Instagram: instagram.com/sleightlymusical
You can support us by purchasing the track here:
http://loudr.fm/release/puffs-of-smoke/dCRBT
----------------------------------------------------------------------
My friend Warren approached me earlier this semester and asked if I wanted to collaborate with him on a spoken word piece he had written a few years ago. He told me:
"Just weeks after graduating high school, one of my closest friends suffered a sudden, massive bleed in his brain that sent him into a deep coma. The bleeding was due to genetic disorder that tightened the blood vessels in his brain and caused them to burst from the increased pressure. The disease is called Moyamoya, which is the Japanese word for "puff of smoke," named so because in scans the bleeding spreads out like wispy tendrils of smoke. After two months in a coma, Carol passed away at age eighteen from an illness he didn't even know he had. These are my words to him."
I was immediately on board after I heard him perform his piece. When I went to compose the music, I drew inspiration from a video by Shane Koyczan and Hannah Epperson. In their spoken word piece, "Remember When We Forgot?," Hannah accompanied Shane's voice on the violin, using a looping pedal to create the illusion of an orchestra being present. For me, I found that by using a looping pedal, we would have the intimacy of only having a single voice and violin, but be able to shape the intensity of the piece by adding and subtracting melodic layers.
Later, we performed this piece live at our college and received great responses from our audience. Therefore, I thought I'd like to share that performance to a larger audience here on my channel, in the form a short film.
Author and Performer: Warren Jay
Composer and Violinist: Albert Chang
Director and Video/Audio Editor: Albert Chang
Videographer 1: Chloe Shih
Videographer 2: James Kang
Special thanks to Roger Sheu and Shannon Burns for their help behind the scenes!
