When the Pandemic Came, It Started To Rain (English)
Latinos Positivos, David Wall, 2023, audio installation
A white gallery wall with large black exhibition text, a reader rail,
and two sets of headphones on our right. The exhibition wall text is
titled, “When the Pandemic Came, It Started To Rain,” and is repeated in
three different languages, Anishinaabemowin, English, then French.
Underneath that, wavy black and dotted lines flow along the edge of the
wall. A plastic chair is set in front of the headphones.Audio
[Throughout the piece are many layered sound effects with the voices. The voices are anonymous and marked with the word “voice” when they change.]
Voice:
[Echoey voice] I remember when the pandemic first came. [Dripping faucet]. It started to rain.
The dropping rain.
The sound of the rain. [Thunder and rain].
Hearing the sounds of the rain. [Rain and birds singing].
Voice:
[Rythmic tamborine].
Y escuchaba el correr del agua en la bañera
Voice:
The sound of the rain. [Tambourine and other percussive instruments with the sounds of talking and laughter in the background].
Voice:
[They reach a crescendo then stop abruptly]. Mi experiencia en la pandemia tuvo dos etapas: una de tristeza y una de satisfacción. [Electronic rythmic notes imiate the sound of water].
Voice:
Bueno, como decía, yo estuve con la naturaleza, entonces, me acuerdo que cuando salía yo a caminar, todo…, como que los sonidos los podía escuchar como si fuera la primera vez de alguna manera, especialmente estando en el bosque, con las hojas del viento o el viento, los pájaros. [Irregular electronic melodic notes fade in and out].
Voice:
I’ve been here for 33 years in Canada. And I’m a little shy to speak in public.
Voice:
[sounds continue]…people knocking the doors. Like to me, after the pandemic, everybody was like, knocking on the door to try to communicate with their colleagues. So, to me I realized that those doors were kind of barriers, so people were on the fence.
Voice:
…Entonces el sonido, es difícil ponerlo [tapping] todo en un sonido, pero es [tapping] ….Para mi fue relajado fue así como….[rythmic notes from tapping a bell]
Voice:
El sonido que me recuerda el COVID es de la impresora, porque tenia que estar pendiente de una impresora digital…. Y la impresora hacia una secuencia de sonido que era imperdible porque era de la banda, que era como… [snappy sound of rocks being scrapped against each other, or a match being lit. Continues under next voice].
Voice:
Una de las cosas que me encanta, mi placer es viajar, y uno de los sonidos… Bueno, en Venezuela, yo vivía cerca de un aeropuerto entonces yo siempre sentía cuando salían los aviones, cuando llegaban, y eso a mi siempre me gusto.
Me encanta viajar y el sonido del avión cuando empiezan las turbinas a prender, las élites si es un helicóptero, [a low harmonic humming voice like a helicopter slowly builds to almost drown out the voice] esos sonidos a mi me gustan, o sea, como que me complacen. Y bueno, eso lo extrañé mucho en la pandemia, pero, sin embargo, bueno, siempre lo tenia en mi mente, o sea, todos los sonidos y [stops abruptly] siento que dan [voice hums]… [slow clanging] y como que el sonido de las ruedas…. Todo eso lo tengo, lo recuerdo todo el tiempo, y en los meses, en los años de pandemia lo recordaba, siempre lo recordé. [Slow long cello notes with intermittent rhythm continues as next voice begins].
Voice:
At first, I was very very depressed, like I lost my job, and I had to go back and start from scratch again. I was always listening to a sound that reminds me. Let’s say that when I was waking up in the morning, especially the times when I was, I hope I don’t get too emotional right now [laughs], but especially the times that I was very depressed, [music stops] let’s say that. The fact that I was able to wake up every morning, the fact that I was able to go through all the pandemic still having my friends, my life. It’s hard to express but it was like a new day for me, every new day for me, it was a huge comfort. [Random echoing water drops continue as next voice begins].
We had so many sounds around us. We don’t really pay attention to little sounds [water drops increase in volume]. But then when you start to pay attention, they start to grow, stronger and stronger and stronger. [Water drops transform into plucked notes and long wavering chords on a cello. The sound continues as the next voice begins].
Voice:
Que los sonidos que llegaron a mi vida eran sonidos un poco profundos, [music stops] eran sonidos de nostalgia [bell ringing in time with cello notes being plucked]…y sobre todo como que noticias que tocaban a mi puerta porque estaba esperando resultados positivos cuando mi abuela estaba enfrentando las dificultades médicas. Entonces, cualquier noticia, yo sentía en mi corazón como ese sonido [high pitched bell ringing] que retumbaba de una manera profunda [bell continues as next voice begins].
Voice:
How I managed to go through the pandemic? It was that I learned how [human voices layered singing whooo, like owls or the wind] to listen to outside sounds. The air, along with the snow howling [a shimmering sound is added]. Wet rain or freezing rain sometimes. Love the rain and it makes me to think that I gotta enjoy life more [muffled heavy rain. Then thunder, birds, and an electronic melody layered on top and continues].
The bluebird, it was sounding sort of like a [trills tongue rapidly in one note]…
The hummingbird, it was more like a snap sound, like [snaps fingers then tongue]…
And the howling of the air, it was like [voice makes the same human whooooing sound from earlier]…
When I was doing the sound, I was thinking about las castañuelas, so it was like [rythmic clinking and rattling with melodic electronic notes]…
Voice:
So, I lost my job, I lost all my income, everything practically, and that was traumatic, but in the meantime, it was a way of looking for new things, for a new beginning, and it gave me the time to reconsider my life [electronic melodic water droplets].
Voice:
Realmente, para mí, la pandemia fue como una explosión, como de un día para otro [slow piano notes in a minor key] todo cambia, sin aviso, sin que nadie te diga nada. Todo explota y la vida cambia, y la vida cambia en una forma que nunca te imaginaste que pudiera pasar, y de ahí sale un [melodic wooden notes layered on the piano] comienzo nuevo, una nueva forma de vida. Entonces para mí la pandemia en sonidos es como el sonido de una explosión muy grande donde todo termina, donde todo se acaba, y después viene un sonido como de renacer, [piano stops and a snapping rattle starts] de volver a comenzar y comenzar a crecer. [Water droplets begin].
Voice:
Ya estaba yo triste porque [sound stops] todo estaba cerrado, y recuerdo que para yo escapar de eso me… utilizaba la bañera, para bañarme, y escuchaba el correr del agua en la bañera, cuando la cerraba, una gota tras otra gota tras otra gota, y era repetitivo, era…. Eso me tranquilizaba [water droplets begin. In between droplets, a low far away cello plucks a single note]…
Era un sonido constante, algo que estaba en totalmente en silencio y se escuchaba un poquito…
Al principio no lo percibía y ya después empecé como que a los dos o tres días a percibirlo [snapping and water droplets start] mas y mas y más. Al principio era algo así…
Voice:
[Sound stops] OK, the rhythm, for me, has three different cycles. Before the pandemic, during the pandemic and after the pandemic. Because it was a lot of interruptions and creation of new rhythms. [Shrill wavering violin notes].
Before the pandemic, it was something like [low toned rhythmic drum, then random additional metallic beats layered on top]…
Then during the pandemic, when the pandemic arrived, it was like [far away beating of a drum at a slower pace. Low sound in background]…
Then, when the face masks and the vaccines arrived, it was a mix between [the two tones are layered and continues a slow pace]…
And now it’s something harder, like [loud rapid irregular drum beats ending with a soft explosive sound]…
Voice:
Ok sigue, sigue para que todos te sigamos.
So, one person will do a sound or a rhythm and we will follow [birds whistle]. Ok, ok. So everybody try [more voices join in whistling. A slow singular clapping rhythm begins, joined by others. A voice starts singing “Ahhh” and the clapping stops. Then everyone joins in singing “Ahhhh”].
Voice:
[Slow tambourine]…feel myself and try to, you know, to channel that energy, from inside, in a way that I could survive the pandemic, right? [Distorted irregular tambourine beat, a melodic and upbeat guitar melody starts. Various percussive sounds come in and voices singing in harmony. This overlays the next two voices who are played at the same time. Half way through, a violin joins in].
Voice:
So I was working 13, 14 hours a day with a physical job and going to the washroom to have a little cry [laughter] in the meantime. And something that I always felt, like for years and years, that I actually just realized that I have, was during the pandemic, which is gerascophobia, which is, for those who doesn’t know, is the fear of getting old and dying. So, in the beginning of the pandemic, because the city was so quiet, like there was not a single person on the street, at the same time to me it was joyful.
Voice:
What reminds me about, what summarized the pandemic, was the sound of silence, if that can be, because there was a lot of things that stopped, like the traffic was stopped, the people going out, you know, they were stopped. Everything was, like, brought down to a halt. It was just more silent everywhere. But then there was a lot of mystery and uncertainty. [Music stops].
Voice:
There was a lot of things that stopped [“stopped” is echoed. Rapid tambourine].
Voice:
It started to rain. [Tambourine stops abruptly. A cello begins and all the sounds from the piece play slowly, then begin to layer over each other in a cacophony of sound].
Voice:
The sound of the rain. [Music stops].
Voice:
Keep that forever, ok? [Various slightly off beat percussive instruments played in a room. Cello starts and people clap].
Voice:
[Cello continues] Y escuchaba el correr del agua, en la bañera.
Voice:
Love the rain and it makes me to think that I gotta enjoy life more. [Cello transitions to soft shimmering bells that fade out.]
[Throughout the piece are many layered sound effects with the voices. The voices are anonymous and marked with the word “voice” when they change.]
Voice:
[Echoey voice] I remember when the pandemic first came. [Dripping faucet]. It started to rain.
The dropping rain.
The sound of the rain. [Thunder and rain].
Hearing the sounds of the rain. [Rain and birds singing].
Voice:
[Rythmic tamborine].
And I listened to the running water in the bathtub.
Voice:
The sound of the rain. [Tamborine and other percussive intstruments with the sounds of talking and laughter in the background].
Voice:
[They reach a cresendo then stop abruptly]. My experience of the pandemic had two stages: one of sadness and one of satisfaction. [Electronic rythmic notes imiate the sound of water].
Voice:
Well, as I was saying, I was out in nature, so, I remember when I went for a walk, everything..., like I could hear the sounds as if it was the first time somehow, especially being in the forest, with the leaves in the wind or just the wind, the birds.[Iregular electronic melodic notes fade in and out].
Voice:
I’ve been here for 33 years in Canada. And I’m a little shy to speak in public.
Voice:
[sounds continue]…people knocking the doors. Like to me, after the pandemic, everybody was like, knocking on the door to try to communicate with their colleagues. So, to me I realized that those doors were kind of barriers, so people were on the fence.
Voice:
...So the sound, it's hard to put [tapping] it all in one sound, but it's [tapping].… For me it was relaxed (sound) it was like this...[rythmic notes from tapping a bell].
Voice:
The sound that reminds me of COVID is the sound of the printer, because I had to check on the digital printer.… And the printer made a sound sequence that was unforgettable because it was from the band, which was like.…[snappy sound of rocks being scrapped against each other, or a match being lit. Continues under next voice].
Voice:
One of the things I love, my pleasure is travelling, and one of the sounds... Well, in Venezuela, I lived near an airport so I always could feel when the planes left, when they arrived, and I always liked that.
I love travelling and the sound of the aeroplane when the turbines start to turn on, the wings if it's a helicopter, [a low harmonic humming voice like a helicopter slowly builds to almost drown out the voice] I like those sounds, I mean, they delight me. And well, I missed that a lot in the pandemic, but, nevertheless, well, I always had it in my mind, I mean, all the sounds [stops abruptly] and I feel that they give...[voice hums]… [slow clanging] and like the sound of the wheels... .… I remember all of that, I remember it all the time, and in the months, in the years of the pandemic I remembered it, I always remembered it. [Slow long cello notes with intermitent rythm continues as next voice begins].
Voice:
At first, I was very very depressed, like I lost my job, and I had to go back and start from scratch again. I was always listening to a sound that reminds me. Let’s say that when I was waking up in the morning, especially the times when I was, I hope I don’t get too emotional right now [laughs], but especially the times that I was very depressed, [music stops] let’s say that. The fact that I was able to wake up every morning, the fact that I was able to go through all the pandemic still having my friends, my life. It’s hard to express but it was like a new day for me, every new day for me, it was a huge comfort. [Random echoing water drops continue as next voice begins].
We had so many sounds around us. We don’t really pay attention to little sounds [water drops increase in volume]. But then when you start to pay attention, they start to grow, stronger and stronger and stronger. [Water drops transform into plucked notes and long wavering chords on a cello. The sound continues as next voice begins].
Voice:
The sounds that came into my life were sounds that were a bit deep, [music stops] they were sounds of nostalgia...[bell ringing in time with cello notes being plucked]… and above all, it was like hearing news that knocked on my door because I was waiting for positive results when my grandmother was facing medical difficulties. So, whatever news, I felt in my heart like that sound [high pitched bell ringing] that echoed in a deep way. [Bell continues as next voice begins].
Voice:
How I managed to go through the pandemic? It was that I learned how [human voices layered singing “whooo”, like owls or the wind] to listen to outside sounds. The air, along with the snow howling [a shimmering sound is added]. Wet rain or freezing rain sometimes. Love the rain and it makes me to think that I gotta enjoy life more [muffled heavy rain. Then thunder, birds, and an electronic melody layered on top and continues].
The bluebird, it was sounding sort of like a [trills tongue rapidly in one note]…
The hummingbird, it was more like a snap sound, like [snaps fingers then tongue]…
And the howling of the air, it was like [voice makes the same human whooooing sound from earlier]…
When I was doing the sound, I was thinking about las castañuelas, so it was like [rythmic clinking and rattling with melodic electronic notes]…
Voice:
So, I lost my job, I lost all my income, everything practically, and that was traumatic, but in the meantime, it was a way of looking for new things, for a new beginning, and it gave me the time to reconsider my life [electronic melodic water droplets].
Voice:
Really, for me, the pandemic was like an explosion, how from one day to the next [slow piano notes in a minor key] everything changes, without warning, without anyone telling you anything. Everything explodes and life changes, and life changes in a way that you never imagined could happen, and out of that [melodic wooden notes layered on the piano] a new way of life. So for me the pandemic is like the sound of a very big explosion where everything ends, where everything is over, [piano stops and a snapping rattle starts] and then comes a sound of rebirth, of starting again and starting to grow. [Water droplets begin].
Voice:
I was already sad because [sound stops] everything was closed, and I remember that to escape from that I... I used the bathtub, to take a bath, and I listened to the running of the water in the bathtub, when I closed it, one drop after another drop after another drop, and it was repetitive, it was .…. That calmed me down... [water droplets begin. In between droplets, a low far away cello plucks a single note].
It was a constant sound, something that was totally silent and you could hear a little bit of it...
At first I didn't perceive it and then I started to perceive it [snapping and water droplets start] more and more and more after two or three days. At the beginning it was like this...
Voice:
[Sound stops] OK, the rhythm, for me, has three different cycles. Before the pandemic, during the pandemic and after the pandemic. Because it was a lot of interruptions and creation of new rhythms. [Shrill wavering violin notes].
Before the pandemic, it was something like [low toned rhythmic drum, then random additional metallic beats layered on top]…
Then during the pandemic, when the pandemic arrived, it was like [far away beating of a drum at a slower pace. Low sound in background]…
Then, when the face masks and the vaccines arrived, it was a mix between [the two tones are layered and continues a slow pace]…
And now it’s something harder, like [loud rapid irregular drum beats ending with a soft explosive sound]…
Voice:
Ok go on, go on so that we all follow you.
So, one person will do a sound or a rhythm and we will follow [birds whistle]. Ok, ok. So everybody try [more voices join in whistling. A slow singular clapping rhythm begins, joined by others. A voice starts singing “Ahhh” and the clapping stops. Then everyone joins in singing “Ahhhh”].
Voice:
[Slow tambourine]…feel myself and try to, you know, to channel that energy, from inside, in a way that I could survive the pandemic, right? [Distorted irregular tambourine beat, a melodic and upbeat guitar melody starts. Various percussive sounds come in and voices singing in harmony. This overlays the next two voices who are played at the same time. Half way through, a violin joins in].
Voice:
So I was working 13, 14 hours a day with a physical job and going to the washroom to have a little cry [laughter] in the meantime. And something that I always felt, like for years and years, that I actually just realized that I have, was during the pandemic, which is gerascophobia, which is, for those who doesn’t know, is the fear of getting old and dying. So, in the beginning of the pandemic, because the city was so quiet, like there was not a single person on the street, at the same time to me it was joyful.
Voice:
What reminds me about, what summarized the pandemic, was the sound of silence, if that can be, because there was a lot of things that stopped, like the traffic was stopped, the people going out, you know, they were stopped. Everything was, like, brought down to a halt. It was just more silent everywhere. But then there was a lot of mystery and uncertainty. [Music stops].
Voice:
There was a lot of things that stopped [“stopped” is echoed. Rapid tambourine].
Voice:
It started to rain. [Tambourine stops abruptly. A cello begins and all the sounds from the piece play slowly, then begin to layer over each other in a cacophony of sound].
Voice:
The sound of the rain. [Music stops].
Voice:
Keep that forever, ok? [Various slightly off beat percussive instruments played in a room. Cello starts and people clap].
Voice:
[Cello continues] And I listened to the water running, in the bathtub.
Voice:
Love the rain and it makes me to think that I gotta enjoy life more. [Cello transitions to soft shimmering bells that fade out.]
Installation Details
This soundscape combines audio recordings documented during a workshop with Latinos Positivos, where local community members reflected upon the loneliness and grief they felt during the pandemic. While using spoken word and percussion instruments throughout this piece, many of these testimonials are also accompanied by the repetitive sounds of water, such as raindrops and dripping faucets.
This artwork is a collaboration between Latinos Positivos, an organization supporting Toronto’s Latinx HIV-positive communities, and composer, lyricist, singer, and vocal coach David Wall. The community members who participated in this soundscape prefer to remain anonymous.
About the Artist
A photo of David Wall taken from the waist up in front of a choppy lake.
He is a dark haired, bearded man with light skin tone wearing a dark
blue jean jacket. He looks directly at us with a neutral expression and
binoculars hang from his neck.