The mouth of the balloon functions like a woodwind reed or a brass player's lips. Because rubber dampens its own overtones, the pure tones produced by the balloons are similar to those produced by an electronic oscillator. The oral inflection and enunciation into the mouth of the balloon are similar to that used by a singer. After eight years of making music with them, I sometimes think that balloons may be magic. They are made of natural latex, which was first discovered and used for waterproofing shoes and bottles by the Mayans in the Central American rainforests.
Balloons also relate to our own childhood, a time of fantasy and imagination.
And balloons hold air, quite often our own breath. In 1994 during an artist residency in the Netherlands, I had the opportunity to visit Marion DeLaet, a composer at the music conservatory at the Haag who had written a piece for balloons. Marion's piece used a variety of sizes of balloons, which she had dubbed soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The size that I think most closely correlates to her tenor is the 16-inch round balloon that I purchase from a balloon wholesaler in New York City. I based my Piece for Solo Tenor Balloon on the harmonic series that occurs when the balloon is rubbed, combined with a small microtonal range controlled by squeezing the balloon between my knees.