For Artist and Composer Li Yilei, Everything is an Instrument

Chinese artist and composer Li Yilei’s new album, NONAGE, ruminates on childhood through a sonic tapestry of unexpected samples, spanning nostalgic Chinese television shows, mechanical toys, and an array of acoustic and electronic instruments — many of which were designed and hand-built by Yilei. Ahead of NONAGE’s release, the artist offers Something Curated an exclusive glimpse into their process with an intriguing photo series documenting their collection of improvised instruments. The below words and images are Yilei’s.

I enjoy incorporating samples collected from a diverse range of objects and instruments. Instead of limiting myself to just one instrument, I explore the rich sonic potential hidden within everyday objects. It’s fascinating to discover how everything in our daily environment can produce unique sounds. From the hum of a refrigerator to the clinking of utensils, I’m constantly on the lookout for unconventional sources of audio inspiration. By tapping into these sounds, I can add depth and texture to my music, creating a truly immersive listening experience for my audience.

This is a traditional Chinese paper parasol with bells and wind chimes, which I made. I sampled quite significantly from this parasol in this album. I think chimes were the first ever musical encounter I had growing up. I had chimes hanging in the doorframe and over my bed, making gentle sounds in the summer breeze. When holding this parasol in the forest, light penetrates through the desecrated parts of the parasol, and the chimes gently move with the wind; only you who holds the umbrella can hear it weep.

I made this wooden string instrument with a mini conch theremin. I customised it with a round circular antenna. It doesn’t produce an exceptionally refined sound but rather, creates an uncontrollable sharp pitch that was sampled in Sandalwood, Ivory and Summit.

This is a ceramic bird whistle I have had with me for many years. When filled with water, it produces a wonderful bird sound. I carry it with me and it almost always makes an appearance in my performances, and is definitely one of the most used instruments in my albums. Also in this image is a bamboo whistle and a frog caller; I sampled them for the track Pillow, Mantra and Trance to mimic and recreate the sonic environment of a rainforest.

These are tools, utensils, and objects that I sampled, using contact microphones. For the first track Go, Little Book, I wanted to recreate the motion of frantic scribbling and drawing through sound. To achieve this, I amplified a table with contact microphones, and used these tools to draw on and interact with the table.

These are Indian flutes, a kalimba, a noise box that produces a healing string reverb sound, muffled handmade bells, and a vintage horn that makes semblances of sound. These instruments created unique samples, which were then processed to build a layered soundscape.

This is a plastic toy piano I found in a flea market, which still takes on a loud and tinny sound quality, despite half the keys not working. There’s also a jumping toy frog (the jumping sound mimicks a drum sequence), and a circuit bent alphabet learning machine by Bogus Noise that makes funky noises and bip blop sounds.



Li Yilei’s new album, NONAGE, will be released on 6 March 2024 and is available to pre-order now.



Feature image: Li Yilei by Joan Low