The Flood is a collaboration between vocalist/composer Stef Conner, Andy Lowings (instrument-builder, harpist and creator of the Gold Lyre of Ur – a reconstruction ofa 4500-year-old instrument excavated by Leonard Wooley in the early 20th century at Ur) and Mark Harmer (sound engineer, producer and harpist). Conner learned to read several ancient Babylonian and Sumerian tablets written in cuneiform script from as early as the 4th millennium BC, and used historians’ research to figure out likely pronunciation. As Doug Main explained in a Newsweek piece: “Conner says a key step was to really understand the language. She carefully studied historical analysis of the stresses and intonations of Babylonian and Sumerian for hints as to how it may have sounded, and researched how language is converted into music in similar Semitic languages. Then, after choosing and memorizing a piece of writing or poem, Conner collaborated with Lowings to create the melody.” Read more and LISTEN to the results here:
http://www.newsweek.com/what-did-ancient-mesopotamian-hits-sound-something-291543
http://io9.com/musicians-recreation-of-ancient-sumerian-songs-will-hau-1676603467
http://www.stefconner.com/the-lyre-ensemble/
