A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given. The poems were already here before I arrived and began to experiment with them. They will still be here when these musical experiments, and indeed myself, have been swept away, like the sand of a mandala. Nothing has been lost.

I want a simpler end to my life, days of simple love and enjoyment with my wonderful wife of 20 years. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit that life.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

The experimental music I am making now is on my Suno profile. Those pieces stay there, and are not added to this site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

The Mandala Is Finished explains this more fully.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard

Home › Glossary › Letter E

Echo Reading

Performance
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A performance method in which a line or phrase is repeated after it is spoken. The echo may come from another voice or the same performer.

Detailed Definition
Echo reading uses repetition as a live acoustic and interpretive device. A second performer, chorus, or audience may repeat a phrase immediately, softly, loudly, or in altered rhythm. The echoed language can resemble memory, agreement, accusation, prayer, or haunting. By separating a phrase from its original context and returning it to the room, the technique draws attention to its sound and emotional weight.
Example
Example in poetry:
A teacher reads one line of a poem aloud and the class repeats it, copying the phrasing and emphasis; During a performance of “We Real Cool,” a leader speaks each short line and the group echoes it to practice its clipped rhythm; One reader says, “I am the dream,” and the chorus repeats the line more loudly, building intensity; In rehearsal, students echo difficult lines from a poem to learn where the pauses and stresses belong
Additional Notes
Echo reading is a performance practice in which one reader or group repeats words, phrases, or lines after another speaker. The echo may be exact, softened, delayed, shortened, or altered, producing emphasis, ritual, memory, distance, or disagreement. It is especially effective with refrains and emotionally charged images. Rehearse timing and volume so the echo supports rather than obscures the original voice. Compare call-and-response, where the reply is usually more distinct than a repetition.
Also Known As
Echo Recitation
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