Helen Yee’s debut album “Orchestrope” demonstrates her love for the sound of bowed strings in a thousand ways. The violin is “my second voice,” says Yee in a conversation with Cara Lieurance.
“When I first started plugging into the electronics and then altering the sound, I was hearing richer sonorities…[it’s] like my make-believe orchestra in a box that’s taking the sound of the violin and stretching it electronically.” With her violin, pre-programmed computers and live-looping, Yee can take the pieces she recorded in a studio at home to the stage. She tells the story behind each piece as they listen to “Orchestrope,” “Noche de Julia,” “Tanoura,” and “Square Root of Paradise." She also tells the story of how she first began trying new things on violin when she joined a rock band — as a harmonica player.
The album is now available on all streaming platforms and can be purchased in CD form or for download at Bandcamp. The album will be released locally at 8 pm on March 9. Yee will open a concert shared with Jay Gavan and The Flying Leaps at Bell’s Eccentric Café. Tickets and more details are available here.
