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The symbolism of sound. Another example of innovation uses an image to guide the development of the motif. The next piece is a mysterious, meditative hymn, marveling at God's creation, its diversity, harmony and perfection. The Filipino author/composer, Francisco F. Feliciano, a Yale graduate, uses an image to explain the symbolism of sound. He says that when one throws a rock into a calm lake it stirs up ripples, first small, then expanding bigger and wider, and finally fading. The composition evolves from this imagery. The melodic construction uses the movement of sound to describe the ripples expanding, then fading. Feliciano is also innovative in utilizing two guitars, one playing only three tones 3 4 6, with the other playing accompaniment in arpeggios, all in discords. To my knowledge no other hymns in the West or in Asia are composed with this kind of texture and symbolism. See "Still, I Search for My God" (example 9). 
Drones. The following is an example where I have taken the Indian concept of raga, tala (rhythmic cycle), and drone, and have added new ideas, which are neither Indian nor Western or Taiwanese. This is my personal ideal of the goal of contextualization as an Asian, not necessarily limiting myself to a single culture. The function and role of the Holy Spirit is a mystery to many. Shirley Murray, a New Zealander, is one of the best hymn writers today. In her hymn "Loving Spirit" (see example 10) she describes the loving Spirit as a mother, feeding and forming me with her own body; as a father: protecting me and hoisting me on his shoulder to see the world; as a friend and lover, knowing, comforting, and giving me rest. When I set her text to music I tried to express this mysterious yet intimate feeling of the Holy Spirit with the so-called Gypsy scale of India. The Gypsy scale is organized in two tetrachords, 3 4 #5 6 and 7 1 #2 3, each of which consists of the intervals of a minor 2nd, augmented 2nd, and minor 2nd (similar to the Indian Bhairav raga family). I used an additive rhythm, or the South Indian triputa tala 3 + 2 + 2. With this variety of melodic intervals, additive rhythm, and ornaments, I could create different melodic lines. As I indicated earlier, Indian music has no concept of harmony. In order to innovate I borrowed the tonic and dominant of the Gypsy scale as drones. These drones, however, move slowly, and gradually develop to a more complex inner melodic line. This creates a mood of mystery, building up to a climax that expresses the "wonder" of the Spirit near the end. The drum and concussion bell accompaniment also adds to the mystery of this hymn. The end of each stanza should leave a cycle of seven beats as interlude. 
Two Asian cultures. In this last example, I describe my own work in attempting to fuse musical ideas from two Asian cultures in conflict as a way to symbolize possible unity and reconciliation. Over four hundred thousand migrants work in Taiwan; they come from the Philippines and other Asian countries. Some of them have taken jobs that formerly would have been held by Taiwanese aboriginal people. This causes resentment and tension between Taiwanese tribes and migrant workers. When I discovered the New Zealand poet Bill Wallace's hymn "Sound a Mystic Bamboo Song" which vividly depicts Christ in Asian ways of life—wearing tribal cloth, living in a squatter's shed, bending while planting rice—I was deeply moved. I decided to use this text to create a contextualized hymn bringing Philippine and Taiwanese musical cultures into unity. My immediate idea was to use non-lexical syllables to establish the link between the Kalinga people from the Northern Philippines and Taiwanese aboriginal people, both of whom are fond of singing in non-lexical syllables. As I indicated earlier, non-lexical syllables can take on new meaning according to context. I created a new context by putting non-lexical phrases from each culture into the same song. Thus, the Kalinga motive begins the first half of the song, and the Taiwanese tribal motive completes the second half. I hoped that Kalinga and Taiwanese singers and listeners would experience a feeling of unity and reconciliation through bringing the familiar and unfamiliar sounds together. The theology and symbolism behind this composition are that Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, has taken our mortal body, working with us, suffering with us. We, as children of God, in spite of all our differences, are equally loved by Christ. Therefore we can share our burdens, our resources; we can work together, live in harmony, and manifest our unity in Christ. This is my humble attempt in contextualizing with our Asian sisters and brothers our mutual faith in Christ. (See example 11). 
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