David Yates

As far as I can tell, the theme of this submission is “of the moment.” What a tremendous moment this is right now, the gravity of which is immense enough to bring any artist to their knees. From climate change to COVID-19 to the thousands marching after George Floyd’s death, it’s a lot to absorb, digest, and somehow transmute into something that can be called art.

Yet I’m perfectly suited to this. My art is situated in the sublime turning point of the moment itself. Music, for me, resounds with all the gravity of everything I am and am feeling now. My happy place is the instant before I make a sound with an instrument. I love the unexpected mystery that unfolds from note to note, then vanishes again, an echo in listeners’ ears.

Before quarantine, it was regular work for me to play to groups seeking comfort and release in sound journeys or yoga classes. I played my wide range of instruments, one at a time, to suit whatever was present in the room. Then lockdown came. I’d just moved into a new place, my first time living alone in Vancouver. All the ensuing solitude, loneliness, and introspection crashed in on me, but I turned calmly to something I’d never imagined trying before: playing spontaneous, live music sets, streamed online, to an audience of whoever happened to be online watching in that particular moment.

What emerged was almost always a question mark until it happened, and this is what struck me again and again: whoever happened to be watching always expressed how welcome impactful it was for them to hear that particular music in that particular moment. In spite of climate change, COVID-19, and the immensity of the growing BLM movement, my music landed as much-needed medicine every time. My message from this: no matter the size of a movement, sometimes it’s enough to quietly do the exact thing we are ready to do. For me it was music.

Then this opportunity came to submit a piece of work. I eagerly embraced the moment, wrote a loose script, got online, and… my system crashed. I reconfigured my setup, rewrote my plan, and tried again another day. Again, the same outcome. Then again I tried, and again my system gave out. I still haven’t managed to troubleshoot what’s happening.

I decided to sift back through all of my recent livestreams. I found the one I love the most, downloaded it from my Facebook timeline, and uploaded it to YouTube. This journey inward has certainly been profound, and if you can hear even a hint of the things I’ve felt and thought and processed in these three months, and if you feel them resonate in you, then I have done my work as an artist.

David Yates is a heartful precision sound ninja. He first delved into the deep power of the didgeridoo 11 years ago with his teacher Shine Edgar. He then branched into the realm of sound healing and sound journeys while working at Gandharva Loka, the world music store, gradually weaving an assortment of powerful instruments into his repertoire. He now plays as well as DJs for a wide range of sound, meditation, dance, and yoga events in spaces throughout Vancouver and beyond. His live instrumentation includes the didgeridoo, handpan, native flute, fujara, kalimba, gong, mouth harp, and more.