Resonance Faire - a place for weird music

[Ugly Dougly]

Okay, this may get me motivated to attend BM 2013. I want to see weird, experimental, acoustic musical instruments!

Oddball folk instruments from Er-Hu to Biniou are welcome. Throat singers too! Special points for unusual tunings.

I got a couple of ideas for instruments I can bring. Still cooking up ideas.

So if you're interested, let's hear it!

[Elorrum]

I love the name! I've been thinking of making weird instruments too. Coffee can erhu for one.

[Ugly Dougly]

Okay, for my project, this is what I am starting with:

[Ugly Dougly]

Sound garden:


Er-hu:

[Ugly Dougly]

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/

[Ugly Dougly]

[Runs; With Scissors]

This is a neat idea, from a fantastic perspective - I feel like many of the art projects I saw were visually oriented and my auditory senses were bored by the end of the week. Too much bing-bing-bing / whoop whoop whoop whoop coming from one direction at a time. I'd enjoy a more ludicrous source of non-standard cacophony. This is also dandy because, (well, in the vision I made in my head) you can stand in the middle of it and have sounds all around you. It seems kinda spiritual and happy hippy-like too. There are many ways which this could go, and a good lead would be needed to keep people like me from converting it into too many ideas at once.

Also, it seems a little non-professional, a little non-commercial, more messy... and somehow, in music, that sounds like more fun.

Did you have any idea so far as how the noises would start? This is off the top of my head, but what if it were multiple strings of noisemakers that were linked... i.e., if someone poked the bells at point "a," chimes would be heard in a string away from them, up to a horn at point "e," then rattles along "e" to "p" would diffuse the completing orchestra? A person at "b" could start a whole different string of sounds. Or perhaps it's not even fueled by people at all, perhaps it would be better if a sail was designed to catch the wind and run along a track, smacking all the bells?

On a completely different note, my inner 3 year old / gorilla just wants to smash things that make noise until I am content.

Lastly, I've considered making a moop monster - something semi-exotic and mostly transparent that would accumulate moop that I have re purposed and safetied (e.g., encapsulated feathers in silicone) and securely attached to it in a monstrous fashion. Part of this fantasy was the concept that it would become a worse "bad trip" daily as the Burn progressed, partially this would give me the obscure pleasure of asking people with feathers to donate them to my art project.... I wanted to say that your idea (I hope, in my imagination) has a much more calming and polite effect.

Hmm, that's my thoughts at a glance. I sent you an email too.

Toodles
Jess

[Ugly Dougly]

Thanks for your interest, Jess. Hey, you live pretty close by. We can probably collaborate in teh flesh. (That's not what I meant!)

Anyhow, I see a couple of pathways:
1. Just having people come by, whether in the camp or not, with homemade experimental instruments for a jam session or many.
2. Building an sound art installation. I have no problem hanging gongs on it or wind pipes or whatever as long as it doesn't fall over and crush some poor little monkey hut.

We can come up with some drawings to see if any of these mad schemes are even practical.

Does anyone have a good source for aluminum pipe of various diameters? There are probably several metal shops in San Jose, what am I saying?

[Runs; With Scissors]

yay!

Pictures!

Sounds like a neat idea. We're on to something. Can we just have a jam session in the middle of winter for the hell of it?

What about incorporating fire dancing? Or... noise dancing? we could attach a number of obnoxious things to people and make them dance!

[theCryptofishist]

May I suggest you gentlemen make a junket fact-finding mission to the Exploratorium. I seem to remember that they had some instruments made for playful discovery there.
Of course, there are other possible sources...

[Box Burner]

I think natural or home made instruments would be key. Perhaps a daily jam session as well.


Benjamin Franklin is known to have invented a much-improved version of the glass armonica


The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument.




Ocarinas can be made from sun baked clay and painted. Could be a good hands on project.

[Ugly Dougly]

We scale up or down, depending on how many people commit.

Definitely a daily jam session, with some possible restrictions:
1. No electronic instruments.
2. No store-bought instruments.
3. No standard tunings.
Or mix and match to keep things interesting.

[Ratty]

Thanks for your interest, Jess. Hey, you live pretty close by. We can probably collaborate in teh flesh. (That's not what I meant!)

Anyhow, I see a couple of pathways:
1. Just having people come by, whether in the camp or not, with homemade experimental instruments for a jam session or many.
2. Building an sound art installation. I have no problem hanging gongs on it or wind pipes or whatever as long as it doesn't fall over and crush some poor little monkey hut.

We can come up with some drawings to see if any of these mad schemes are even practical.

Does anyone have a good source for aluminum pipe of various diameters? There are probably several metal shops in San Jose, what am I saying?

If I need something metal I go to a couple of recycle places. The minimum wage workers there will sell you anything. Sure, it's probably not theirs to sell.

[Ugly Dougly]

Thanks, I'll do some scrounging when I get a chance.

[Runs; With Scissors]

Mr. Box, is that a bunch of glass bowls strung together? What is that? It would sound cool, but how do I not break it?

Mr. Fish, if you were incudling me in your suggestion, I am no gentleman.

Mr. Ugly, let's do this, I'll see you for coffee to talk tonight. Looking forward to it.

Mr. E..., Join us!

[theCryptofishist]

Mr. Box, is that a bunch of glass bowls strung together? What is that? It would sound cool, but how do I not break it?

[Ugly Dougly]

Indeed.

phpBB [video]

Same principle:

phpBB [video]

[Ugly Dougly]

This is still on!
(With some adjustments relative to the theme.)

Bring whatever bizarre musical instrument you like, but it's all about the drumming, in an authentically tribal/shamanic sense. We're going to do as John Frum told us, get back to the "kastom" life.

This quote from the Smithsonian website has got me inspired:

“John told us that all Tanna’s people should stop following the white man’s ways,” Chief Kahuwya says. “He said we should throw away their money and clothes, take our children from their schools, stop going to church and go back to living as kastom people. We should drink kava, worship the magic stones and perform our ritual dances.”

Brainstorming:
-drumming
-dancing
-masks
-kava
-body painting
-a different ritual every night

Drop me a PM if you think you might fit in.