Lee Ellen Shoemaker, better known as the Tunnel Singer, is a San Francisco based performance artist and vocalist, whose name comes from her passion for singing in places with long natural reverberation times. Lee Ellen sings her "inner song", as sound waves move in harmony and uniformity, as she uses vocal improvisation to unify even random sounds, creating instruments from tunnels, stairwells and parking garages. She often describes her music as painting with sound, where she invents a tonal language of emotional content that is universally understood. Each piece is recorded live with natural long acoustic reverberation, and has no special effects. She improvises using the space as an instrument to explore the harmonics of her reflected voice.
Inner Runes
This debut album introduces The Tunnel Singer's ethereal, meditative vocalizations. Recorded live in The Palace of Fine Arts, a well known San Francisco landmark, her remarkable solo voice reverberates in the space sometimes accompanied by a Tibetan singing bowl.
The Tunnel Singer and a sound engineer entered one of the rotunda's wedge-shaped support columns, the Sound Column, used by the Exploratorium to demonstrate sound wave interference patterns. The precise eight-second reverberation is created by sound moving through the 64-feet high column.
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Ravens in Moonlight
Recorded live in a tunnel at the World War II defense facility, Construction 129, located atop the Marin Headlands, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
This tunnel produces a seven to eight second reverberation. The presence of fog and ravens during the live recording enhance the earthy sound of the space. The phenomenal natural acoustics are carefully preserved.
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Water Birth
Released late July 1999, this new solo album is recorded live in a two million-gallon underground cistern. The 45-second reverberation is uniquely sculpted by the eighty-eight pillars supporting the roof of the structure which is sometimes called, The Cistern Chapel. Falling grains of sand, water droplets, bird songs and the drone of planes and insects add subtle texture to the incredible ambience. The long, enchanting reverberation is natural and has not been electronically enhanced.
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Night Skies
Night skies over the Straits of San Juan de Fuca provided a wonder-filled view of the stars. Ancient storytellers connected the stars to find portraits, constellations that provided tales of the soul's journey and guided human experience.
Night Skies is recorded in a U-shaped tunnel, a World War One mortar magazine at Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, Washington. Voice, a Tibetan singing bowl and a Moon harp create unusual, shimmering songs with magical reverberations.
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Sailing Solar Winds
Sailing the Solar Wind pilots a tranquil yet energizing journey that begins with a cosmic glide on the solar wind. A refreshing thundershower moves to the desert where a secluded bloom emerges fragrant in the night. The pace slows to explore the mystery of water flowing into sea caves, lifts into an exploration of the color red, then reenters the earthly plane to dance with enlivened ravens. The music combines vocals, percussion, field recordings and electronic processing.
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Music without words means leaving behind the mind. And leaving behind the mind is meditation.
Meditation returns you to the source. And the source of all is sound. — Kabir
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