Yin&Yan
Tiffany “Tiff” Johnston, also known as Yin&Yan, is a multifaceted independent music artist from Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, dancer, producer, engineer, and creative director currently active in Columbus, Ohio. She creates sonically ambient cinematic music with hints of genre-bending elements stemming from her childhood influences.
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She has been pursuing music professionally since 2022, however; she has been a music connoisseur since she was five years old. Already a pianist and dancer, she grew up with a mature music palette carried down generations. She notes artists such as Marvin Gaye, Average White Band, Sade, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Parliament, and Kendrick Lamar as her influences. Moreover, due to her nine-year-long orchestral experience, she is heavily inspired by composers such as Ennio Morricone, Frédéric François Chopin, Nicholas Britell, Florence Beatrice Price, and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Before 2022, she performed as a soloist alongside Mark Wood in 2016 for a Rock & Roll string orchestra performance. Since 2022, she has released one album, one EP, and four singles on various streaming platforms. Additionally, Tiff has collaborated with local artists as an engineer, producer, composer, and instrumentalist. Her live performances include one show in Washington D.C., and two shows in Columbus.
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Tiff believes everyone has a motif that connects to each other's humanity, and we are gifted in many ways to share it. She hopes that audiences will feel the essence of her soul and the art she creates. Much like her influences, she hopes the pouring of her love and pain can impact many generations to come. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZqz8eHqdtw
"A lot of people say music is in them, but music is in her"
– A dear friend of Tiffany.
My Frequency
Here is an index of my releases. I specialize in mixing sound design with acoustic/live instruments and natural elements.
I took Prince to heart when he said own your own shit....I want to wear every hat possible and I have been blessed to do so!
Transformation - EP
Released 7/15/2022
Index: 7 songs
*first release
Dark Room Medium
Credits:
Producer: Yin&Yan
Writer: Tiffany Johnston
Instrumentalist: Tiff
Engineer: Yin&Yan
Dark Room Medium is my latest release. This one really sits in a special place in my heart as it was made during an immense time of grief. I had just let go of a terribly toxic relationship, let go of a conservatory education at a extremely white-conservative school, and was working a job with an extremely eurocentric environement. It felt like many things in my life crumbled and as many of us do in our 20s, I had to ask myself again, "outside of what you think you should do, what do you want to do?" A privilege of a question, I know. It's a privelege when life breaks apart because it shows you exactly what peices are meant to be put back together and what pieces were never meant to stay. Scorched earth always gives way to new beginnings. That is the beauty of "life is death, rebirth, repeat".
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This single is comprised of live cello, piano, and vocals with an undercurrent of a memo I recorded Hawai'i discussing what freedoms looks like to me.
This was such a fun project for me! I got to really explore the range of my voice and weave it into the experimentation of Sasha (my cello). Many of the sounds you hear, you may think of as another instrument, when in actuality it's Sasha. I had an ethnomusicology (I know loaded language) professor who opened my eyes to the true capabilities of an instrument outside a eurocentric context. That was my goal with her (Sasha).
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So, if you're someone who has had to define and redefine freedom for yourself, maybe you're someone who feels your life is just breaking apart, I hope you listen to this and find solace in it.
Spiritual Intimacy
Credits:
Producer: Yin&Yan
Writer: Tiffany Johnston
Instrumentalist: Tiff
Engineer: Yin&Yan
Featuring: Betty Jenkins (My nana)
This album took almost two years to do, highlighting various versions of myself. I chose the title Spiritual Intimacy because I am getting intimate about the ebbs and flows of my spirituality growing up as a black girl in a religious household in a white world. The cognitive dissonance that comes with it and the comfortability of fluidity that proceeds it. This release is very special to me because I got the opportunity to play live cello, saxophone, Bass guitar, and piano for it. I also got to feature my lovely nana's voicemails she left me during one of the hardest times of my life. The poetry featured is a mix of written before and free-styled in the studio session.
Calypso
Credits:
Producer: Yin&Yan
Writer: Tiffany Johnston
Instrumentalist: Tiff
Engineer: Yin&Yan
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I have always been fascinated with greek mythology. The story of Calypso, in particular, kept coming up in my life, so I took a closer look. The story has stayed the same, but my perspective changed as the years went on. I always wondered, was Oddysseus actually trapped or did he indulge in Calypso's love while having another woman in his heart, eventually being overcome by guilt.
If we took a look at history from a feminist perspective, what would we find?
Here is the story of Calypso, told from my perspective.
Enjoy live acoustic guitar, Bass guitar, and dreamy piano.
Yama
Credits:
Producer: Yin&Yan
Writer: Tiffany Johnston
Instrumentalist: Tiff
Engineer: Yin&Yan
Even though I released an EP before this, I consider this more of my first release. I created the beat quite literally while I was sleeping on my friend's floor after deciding to withdraw from my family. This single was like a playground for what pained me and what I had hope for. The beat is completely electronic with lyrics from past poetry and lyrics written in the studio session.