Violinist plays 'the sounds of being alive'

A voracious hunger for life and chronic curiosity grant violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain a complex relationship with the world, he said, a relationship he shared with Asheville last weekend.

“What is the sound of being alive?”  For Roumain, it is the sound of the violin.  “Whatever it is for you, if you can answer that question, then you can answer them all.”

With his custom-made, six-string electric violin, Roumain, 38, a Haitian-American composer and musician, visited Asheville, playing with turn-tableist and beat-boxer DJ Scientific and pianist Wynne Bennett.  The two-day tour, sponsored by UNC Asheville’s Office of Cultural and Special Events, exhibited innovative musical compositions, including his “Sonata for Violin and Turntables.

“For me, playing the violin is the desperate attempt to make something that I love privately a public passion,” Roumain said.  “I am trying to make the violin cool, to make it relevant.

With a repertoire ranging from collaborating with Lady Gaga on “American Idol” to composing for Carnegie Hall, Roumain said he often surprises audiences with his unique style.  He sings, improvises poetry, stomps his feet and even brings race and politics into the concert hall, he said.      

In his arrangements, Roumain integrates inventive ways to play his violin, such as slapping it like a snare drum and playing it like a bass or electric guitar, while holding the bow in his mouth.       

Roumain said he strives to evoke emotion with just one dramatic chord, tones often inspired by the everyday, the ordinary.      

“I’m really interested in taking the seemingly mundane and making it consequential, make your heart ache for it,” he said.  “How can I give the world something with just one note?”

With Scientific beat-boxing, the performance at Asheville Middle School Friday afternoon was vibrant and interactive.  Roumain encouraged students to “listen with their whole bodies,” snap along instead of clap and sing the choruses.

Bunny Halton-Subkis, UNCA’s cultural events director, said the performance was the first time the entire school attended an assembly together. Halton-Subkis said after discovering Roumain three years ago she became determined to host him in Asheville.

Playing since age five, Roumain told students he was embarrassed to be a violinist when he was young.

“I had to find a way to make the violin, my violin, to make it loud and fierce,” he said. “I realized this was my weapon of choice. This was my one thing that could cut through all those problems, fears and anxieties.

At the end of the performance, Roumain answered student questions and performed a free-style, improvised poem about the shared experience.

“I thought it was something new,” said Ragine Williams, 14. “I liked it.”

At a special dinner in Karpen Hall’s Laurel Forum later that night, Roumain and Scientific shared their insights through performance and interactive conversation.

“You should always have a question and always have a comment.  There’s nothing passive about your education; it’s the worst thing you could do,” Roumain said.

He encouraged students to make sure their education is custom-fit, and not wait until graduation to pursue their ambitions and experience the world.  Succeeding at any profession has challenges, he said, but students should not fear turning their passions into careers.

“The biggest mistake that I never made, that I see people make, is it gets too hard and they stop,” he said.  “Make a decision, narrow the focus and follow the decision, the vision, all the way through to completion.”

Students at the dinner both challenged and agreed with Roumain’s insights, offering a lively exchange throughout the evening. Those remaining afterward said the evening inspired them to take a harder look at their education and life’s path.

Turntables are often overlooked in classical music, with DJs rarely seen as legitimate musicians and composers, Roumain said. At the dinner Roumain and Scientific explained how they are breaking that bias.

Brooklyn-based Scientific said he successfully completed college, though it took 10 years.   He always loved music, he said, but fear of an unconventional vocation kept him from pursuing his ambition professionally.

One day, while getting lifted and writing rhymes with his group, Scientific said he had a revelation.

“I found my happiness there,” Scientific said.  “So I decided, in a cloud, to follow my happiness.  I am going to shape my life from doing the things that make me happy. I’m going to make them work for me.

Scientific said the club money was good, but playing those venues became artistically limiting.

Through Roumain’s aid, Scientific was recently accepted into a composer mentorship program, where he learned to write string arrangements.

Along with other professional DJs, Scientific is now a pioneering force behind the entirely new concept of DJ notation: sheet music for turntables.

“I really wanted to come up with a language so that DJs could start to have conversations with other musicians,” Scientific said.  “Now there can be 10 DJs in an orchestra, and everyone has their part.

Similar to guitar tab, Scientific premiered his first DJ notation piece to UNCA students Friday.  Charted through a computer program, the music reads on a graph where each number represents a different sample over time.

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