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The Musical Tracing Ensemble is an experimental performance project in which a group of musicians listen to a song together, but with each person hearing only an isolated track of the instrument they play. They then attempt to replicate the sounds they’re hearing as best they can on their own instrument in realtime, and the audience hears only these secondhand, improvised impressions (or ‘traces’) of the original song. Here, accompanied by a dreamy, hand-painted animation from the US artist Allison Schulnik, the effect is oddly engaging, as the skills of the performers collide with their naivety of the music, creating something that sounds halfway between a melodic professional performance and an avant-garde experiment.
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Subcultures
Drop into London’s eclectic skate scene, where newbies and old-timers find community
5 minutes
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Rituals and celebrations
A whale hunt is an act of prayer for an Inuit community north of the Arctic Circle
8 minutes
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Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
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Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes
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Biography and memoir
Passed over as the first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight carved out an impressive second act
13 minutes
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Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes
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Architecture
West Africa was once an architectural laboratory. Is it time for a revival?
12 minutes
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Biography and memoir
The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands
29 minutes
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Art
‘If you’re creative, why can’t you create a solution?’ One artist’s imaginative activism
17 minutes