The vocal content of the piece was provided by the Brandeis University Chamber Chorus, of which Lucier was then the director. The score calls for members of the Chorus to “prepare a plan of activity using speech, singing, musical instruments, or any other sound producing means that might describe—to beings very far from the earth’s environment either in space or in time—the physical, social, spiritual, or any other situation in which we find ourselves at the present time.” Along with Sylvania engineer Calvin Howard, Lucier used the vocoder to isolate and manipulate elements of speech in real time.
The vocal component of the piece was provided by the Brandeis University Chamber Chorus, led by Lucier. The score instructs the chorus to use various sounds—including speech, singing, instruments, or any other sound-producing method—to describe a situation for beings far from Earth's environment, whether in space or time.  Lucier collaborated with Sylvania engineer Calvin Howard to utilize a vocoder to isolate and manipulate speech elements in real-time.