Launcher Lab is a joint art studio in HC Playground in Hengchun, Pingtung. The name “Launcher” not only takes the homonym of the ancient name of Hengchun, "Lang Qiao,” but also takes the literal meaning. We hope that energetic young people with visions can be like a launcher, making connections with the locals, weaving the culture of the Hengchun Peninsula, and spreading the culture to various places. We expect to provide a platform for passionate people to interact with each other and generate driving force like a rocket.
Launcher Lab was founded by a startup group who made an effort to popularize traditional folk songs of the Hengchun Peninsula in recent years. Hengchun Peninsula is rich in diverse cultures and nature, giving birth to the unique Hengchun folk songs, Paiwan ancient tunes, and independent music. Thus Launcher Lab devotes itself to sound designing, music-making, festival-organizing, etc. From there, Launcher Lab develops cultural projects such as "Peninsula World Music Festival" (also known as “Hear Here Festival”), "New Folk Songs," "Manzhou Sound Museum," audio picture books, and stage plays.
In 2018, the "Hear Here Festival", which aimed to inherit and pass on the history of folk songs of the Hengchun Peninsula, was born in due course. The Festival provided a stage for music experimenting, where traditional and modern music interwove and collided into dazzling fireworks. "New Folk Songs" was a music-making project launched by Launcher Lab in 2018 at the "Hear Here Festival." It encouraged musicians in Taiwan and abroad to come to Hengchun to produce music in the village, learn folk songs and Yueqin playing from local artists, and make music by merging traditional folk songs with pop music.
Launcher Lab cooperated with the Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank of the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan R.O.C. to establish the "Manzhou Sound Museum" in 2019. Voices and ancient tunes of more than 24 elders and Paiwan tribes in the Hengchun Peninsula were collected, establishing a database containing more than 100 folk songs and data of sounds. Artists who come here are encouraged to use the sounds of the Hengchun Peninsula as materials for creation, learn from this land and pursue innovations. American Marvel movie composer, Bobby Tahouri, composed and rearranged a piece using materials from the Manzhou Sound Museum in 2021, which was performed by Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra at the "Hear Here Festival" in 2022. This collaboration could be considered as one of the most outstanding achievements of Launcher Lab.
Launcher Lab started developing a database of regional sounds, making music and organizing festivals in 2018. Launcher Lab is currently cooperating with enterprises and the government of Taiwan to create immersive audio-visual experience projects such as combining local sightseeing with audio tours and giving immersive audio tours based on Beidawu Mountain, one of the 100 Peaks of Taiwan. It is hoped that through the “Launcher Sound Lab” Art Residence project, the experiences of what Launcher Lab has done can be passed on and used to cultivate artists and bridge to the world. Launcher Lab advances the development of the music industry through sound collecting, database constructing, residency programs providing, and festival organizing. It is hoped that the Hengchun Peninsula will become an island where the world music assembles and attract worldwide musicians.
Sourced from: Launcher Sound Lab
Edited by: Brix