Signing Alphabet

Signing Alphabet is a film by animator Steve Finkin that features Western classical music for voice and electronics by Joan La Barbara. An image of an animated hand morphs into the letters of the alphabet and vice versa, and its colors change into inhuman flesh tones. The soundtrack consists of a tapestry of sound made entirely of La Barbara’s voice using the sound of each letter, processed electronically, that makes unnatural timbres. Sometimes the results are pleasing, and sometimes there are harsh dissonances. As the letter or ASL sign for the letter appears, each letter can be heard clearly.

There is another segment by Finkin that has a similar look, in which the American Sign Language gesture for I love you is explained.

Trivia

Disc three of Old School: Volume 2 misidentifies the segment as Singing Alphabet. It is spelled correctly in the liner notes.