Unpredictable Paths
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exploring artistic identity through instrument-making and instrument modification
TRADITIONS AND CULTURES
I have discovered how the study of different traditional woodwinds has unconsciously affected the way that I play certain western instruments (see journal entry 20.2.2022). I’ve also started to investigate western instruments from a different perspective after studying traditional instruments. For example, I have prepared western instruments, not by adding something to them but rather removing pieces. As Russel (2016) states “In fact, all instruments can be prepared in some way. “Preparing” an instrument means adding objects on or inside the instrument, or subtracting parts to alter the sound. The possibilities for instrument preparation are endless” (p.4).
In my work these explorations have been, for example, subtracting parts of the woodwind instrument, especially discovering removing the mouthpiece. I have explored removing the headjoint of the silver flute and blowing inside the hollow tube, with the similar embouchure that is used to create the sound from the Arabic or Turkish ney (see videos). Contemporary composers have been utilizing this technique of playing woodwinds without the mouthpiece in modern compositions (Russell, 2016). In some compositions it has been used as an extended technique, but other compositions use this technique to bring aesthetics from another tradition to their music, like Eric Mandats Folks Songs IV capturing the sound of Japanese shakuhachi (Simon & Yun, 2018).
I have also removed the mouthpiece from the bass clarinet. The bass clarinet has a wider bore and therefore the ney-type of blowing technique will not work, but it can be played like a didgeridoo. I have also built myself a mouthpiece for bass clarinet that has a sound production mechanism similar to the shakuhachi (see picture and video).
In his doctoral thesis New timbral directions in the contemporary cello repertoire : Analysis of works by Colombian composers from 2000 to 2015 (2019) Sergio Castrillón talks about modifying the sound of the cello as a “phenomenon of timbral re-signification, which can be approached via instrumental deconstruction and re-instrumentation.” Castrillón continues to describe that by, for example, using power chords that originate mostly from electric guitar techniques or percussive techniques on cello “the instrument is thus re-signified by adopting techniques that were not developed within its traditional technique but rather in other instruments” (p.32).
Studying music and instruments from other traditions can have a big impact on musicians. Adewale gave his insights on this topic (2022) by saying: “I think that navigating through different music styles works as a springboard to create new ways of playing instruments” (Adewale, interview transcript, 2022). Instrument-maker and musician Winne Clement created an experimental instrument that he calls Kavalghoza, which combines two very different flutes from different regions, namely the Romanian kaval and Pakistani alghoza (Clement, 2015). Studying traditions can lead to new experiments with the instruments, and these experiments can lead to new explorations again and again. Nathan Riki Thomson mentioned in the interview held in 2022 that during the process of experimenting “you suddenly realize that there is a new sound that you haven't thought of before or a new sound that is coming from this process of experimentation. And that results in a new approach to the instrument as well. New sounds, new sonic territories, new ways of playing and new ways of thinking about the instrument” (Thomson, interview transcript, 2022).
INSTRUMENT MODIFICATION
Electroacoustic music (EAM) is a music genre that originates from the 1950’s, but it also refers overall to music that is made with technology that converts an acoustic source into electronic or combines these two elements (Olarte, 2019). In his doctoral thesis (2019) Alejandro Olarte uses the word electroacoustic set instead of electroacoustic instrument to include the possibility of using a wide range of electronic devices, possibly used simultaneously. Electro-acoustic set may refer to any already existing acoustic instrument that has been electrified, or self-built electronic machines or engineer-built audio equipment, for example.
Term augmented instruments is used when the sound of a traditional instrument is augmented with electronics. As stated by Thomson and Lähdeoja (2019) “In its essence, instrument augmentation is motivated by the ideal of bringing together the vast, rich and embodied instrumental tradition with the nearly endless sonic plasticity enabled by digital and analog audio technologies” (p. 46). In other words, the instrument's character and playability is still present, but augmentation can bring out new sounds, new playing techniques and new forms of artistic expression.
My exploration of modifying the sound of an already existing instrument started with guitar effects pedals. I grew up listening to a lot of rock music and I played electric guitar around the age of 10 to 13. Still, in my childhood studying music or practicing instruments wasn’t too much of my main interest, and I found that spark only in my teenage years through woodwinds. Still I felt that some of those elements from rock-music, such as loudness or distortion, were missing from acoustic woodwinds. I started to explore connecting a microphone through guitar effects pedals to manipulate the sound of a woodwind instrument for the first time in 2015. In the beginning this work was very intuitive, and I drew inspiration from for example the guitar playing of Tom Morello. I bought myself a Digitech Whammy as my first pedal, a pedal that is known for creating that iconic sound for Morello (Laing, 2020). I started to explore the sound possibilities it could create for woodwinds. During a period of seven years spent experimenting with these tools, my work has sometimes been driven by intuition and improvisation that has led to unexpected discoveries, sometimes with more of an analytical view for patching certain devices together to create a sound that I’ve been searching for. This experimentation with electronic effects is still ongoing in my life and so far it has led me to build my own pedalboard that has a wide array of possibilities that I’m familiar and confident with, for example. I use these electroacoustic elements in many types of situations in my artistic practice (see video-excerpts Electroacoustic Improvisation, 2020. and solo-composition Fragmented Reflection, 2021).
MODIFYING THE INSTRUMENT WITHOUT ADDED PREPARATIONS
In an interview I held with Brazilian percussionist and composer Adriano Adewale (2022), he mentioned three ways of modifying an instrument without adding any prepared material, with the example of Brazilian pandeiro player Marcos Suzano. Suzano impacted the way that pandeiro is played by modifying his technique and his tuning, and by using a new style of microphone placement. The pandeiro's bass tones are traditionally played with the thumb, but Suzano switched the bass tone to his fingertips, making it possible to play strong backbeats with his thumb. He then tuned the skin of the pandeiro lower than usual and added a clip-on microphone under the pandeiro. This combination of tuning and close-miking brought out new frequencies and made the sound of pandeiro to be as big as a drum set (Adewale, recorder interview, 2022. See also MOEHN, 2009 and Potts, 2012).
Starting the modification from the player and not the instrument is a field that many musicians have been exploring. Musicians from the avant-garde and free improvisation scenes are especially known for pushing the boundaries of their instrument and playing techniques, resulting in the already known field of extended techniques (Burtner, 2005). There are loads of examples, from modifying the players technique, tuning and microphone set-up, to the circular breathing and multiphonics of Evan Parker, to the guitar tuning (or non-tuning) of Keith Rowe, and the explorations of Colin Stetson placing contact microphones on his saxophone and on his body to bring out sounds that a conventional microphone setup couldn’t. (Warburton, 2001. Stetson, 2011. Herald, 2017).
Adriano Adewale has switched the bass drum from the floor played with foot, to a calabash in his hands with a microphone added underneath. He mentioned (recorded interview, 2022.) that this has created a lot of new possibilities to approach artistic expression for him. I can relate to this, because I have personally spent years exploring extended techniques on woodwind instruments, and I have found new sonic possibilities by combining extended techniques and different microphone set-ups.
PREPARED INSTRUMENTS, INSTRUMENT ATTACHMENTS AND MERGING SOUNDS
When talking about instrument preparation, the first association for many people is western classical music and John Cage. Cage composed music for a piano that had been prepared with different bolts, screws and rubber erasers placed between the strings of the piano (Ripin, Davies, Kernan, 2013). Cage introduced the prepared piano in the 1940’s and after that time instrument preparation has been a phenomenon that modern classical composers have been exploring with instruments like piano, or with string instruments like violin or guitar (Davies, 2020). Also, wind instruments such as clarinet, saxophone and flute have been prepared by adding material such as beads or water inside the body of the instrument, or by adding aluminum foil to block the end of the instrument (Russel, 2016. See also works of Sam Newsome, 2018).
Even though the term prepared instrument gets associated with western classical music, it is not the only or oldest tradition where these elements have been used. In many musical traditions different objects have been placed in or around the instrument to create new types of sounds. In some traditions these attachments are so embedded and part of the whole, that they are not thought of as preparations per se. Some examples are West-African percussion players attaching a metal plate called ksink-ksink to the sides of the djembe to create a metallic resonating sound, metal rings attached inside the frame of the Middle Eastern frame drum, daf, or modern jazz drummers placing a wallet or a small cymbal on top of the snare drum to either damp the sound or to make the sound louder (Wood, 2008. Dick, 2015. Snow, 2016).
In his artistic work Australian double bass player and composer Nathan Riki Thomson uses different types of attachments inserted into the bridge and on the body of his bass. These attachments are the result of a collaboration with him and instrument maker Juhana Nyrhinen. Many of these attachments are constructed of different metallic resonators that create a buzzing sound, or versions of thumb pianos, both which are partly inspired by Thomson’s years spent in Africa and the sound aesthetics of the music he was immersing himself into (Thomson, recorded interview, 2022). In the process of exploring different preparations and attachments, Thomson’s double bass has become almost like a new instrument. By referring to the third space concept of Homi K. Bhabha, Thomson describes his work exploring instrument attachments, electronic manipulation, and new playing techniques as third space bass (Thomson, 2021). In his doctoral thesis (2021) Thomson talks about his work with these explorations, stating “Through this process the double bass takes on a new character, which bears traces of the instrument’s original characteristics as well as the distinctive characteristics of the new elements, but it is neither one nor the other, taking its place in a new hybrid space” (p.135).
Percussionist Adriano Adewale shares a similar interest for creating new sounds as an outcome of different sound sources. In an interview I held with him in 2022 he mentioned how, in berimbau playing, the sound of the string struck with a stick combined with a shaker held in the players hand work together by communicating and contrasting with each other. This creates something that Adewale (recorded interview, 2022) refers to as a symbiotic relationship. Adewale also uses ankle shakers and shakers attached to his body to create different sounds through the movement of his body. He described this work with the attachments in the interview by mentioning that “it can really expand the sonic world. What I really find special is when the attachment disappears. It doesn’t become a sound as an attachment anymore, it’s completely inside” (interview transcript, 2022).
Wind player Jan Hendrickse talks about his experiences of creating a new space where the soundsource disappears in his article Body as a Musical Structure (2019) by saying that “a common phenomenon is a merging of sounds which makes it difficult to locate their origin. This is most striking when it becomes impossible to separate one’s own sound from sound produced by another, or others” (p. 39). Hendrickse refers to this phenomenon happening easily in a loud-volume ensemble improvisation, but it can be achieved in solo playing as well, by using instrument preparations, different techniques or by playing multiple instruments at the same time. Multi-instrumentalist and composer Rahsaan Rolan Kirk created a whole new sonic world by mastering a technique of playing three saxophones at the same time (Kernfeld, 2002). With this playing method he was able to create harmonies, counter melodies, and soundscapes that made it hard to recognize which horn a certain sound came from.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank interviewees Adriano Adewale, Sergio Castrillón and Nathan Riki Thomson for giving their personal insight for the work, as well as instrument-makers Otto Eskelinen and Juhana Nyrhinen who have shared their wisdom before and during this process.
INTRODUCTION
This artistic research bachelor project started in September 2021 out of my interest to gain new knowledge in the field of instrument-making, instrument modification, the study of music and instruments from different traditions, culturally diverse collaboration, and the formation of an artistic identity. This project started with the research question “How can instrument making, instrument modification and the practical exploration of these phenomena affect a musician's identity and artistic practice?”
This artistic research is divided into five main categories:
1. instrument-making referring to building a sonic object from material that doesn’t produce a distinctive or controllable pitch in the first place.
2. instrument-modification including electroacoustic modification, instrument-modification and instrument-preparation, augmented instruments and new playing techniques, such as extended techniques.
3. traditions and cultures looking into how the study of music and/or instruments from different traditions as well as collaboration between cultures affects musicians practice and identity.
4. identity investigatinghow practical exploration of the phenomena from categories 1-3 affects musicians identity, and how musicians identity affects the artistic practice within them.
5. possible problems in the field of instrument-making, modification, music education and in the study of different traditions or intercultural collaboration.
In my practice I have been building wooden flutes with hand tools, but I have also spent years exploring modifying the sound of woodwinds with electroacoustic elements, such as effect pedals and unconventional microphone set-ups. With intensive study of extended techniques, I have been able to explore different sound palettes acoustically. For this research I interviewed people who work in this field, analyzed research and literature based on previous findings from the area, and observed and analyzed my own work through journal entries and recordings. As an artistic research approach, I also draw data from my personal artistic process. This project also takes into consideration ecological, ethical, educational, and cultural problems within these practices.
RESEARCH METHODS
This project is approached from the view of artistic research, meaning that artistic processes such as instrument-making, instrument modification and music creation are considered as research methods, therefore artistic experiments that lead into new artistic discoveries are considered as a part of the research data. Certain valuable information is gained through the artistic process, meaning that origins of some of the data can’t necessarily be cited with specific written scientific research. As Thomson (2021) stated that in the core of (musical) artistic research “essential, tacit knowledge is constructed through the act of the music making itself” (p. 25).
In this artistic research I also draw data from three interviews that I held with three musicians from different backgrounds. In addition, I make reference to other literature and artistic research. As an artistic research approach I also draw data from my above-mentioned artistic processes, which will be presented in formats such as pictures, audio, video and journal entries. All of this data sits side by side and has equal value with the written text. Next to this text, outcomes from my personal artistic practice resulting from this artistic research include new instrumental techniques, new self-built instruments, new instrument modifications, new compositions, new collaborations, and a concert that will present all of these elements in an artistic format.
Artistic research is a field of research that has been growing for the past decades, especially in parts of Europe, Canada and Australia, with approaches such as practice-based research, practice-led research, practice as research, research-creation, and performance research (Thomson, 2021). By summarizing researcher Katrin Busch’s definitions for artistic research, Clive Cazeaux (2017) describes “art as the capacity to cross boundaries or to challenge other forms of knowledge” (p.36). In his dissertation (2015) Christopher Willard argues that in fact “artistic creation is artistic research” (p.85)and rationalizes the existence of the study field of artistic research due to the increasing number of activities that combine art and research. Busch (2009) mentioned that “art’s proclaimed conversion to the sciences did not culminate in the scientification of art, but rather in the development of an intermediary zone where both the arts and the sciences should each be able to mutually interconnect.” (p.5) In other words, artistic research is not scientific research with focus on art, but a form of study where artistic and scientific factors communicate, intertwine and merge together in a relationship that feeds from one another.
BACKGROUND
I have been interested in finding new sounds from the instruments that I play almost as long as I have been studying music. Experiments with woodwinds and electro-acoustics, as well as possibilities to manipulate the acoustic sound of an instrument are some examples of searching for new sounds in my previous practice. These explorations with effect pedals and extended techniques have not always been warmly welcomed in previous institutions where I have studied, institutions that have been teaching standardized traditions such as jazz or western classical music. The past couple of years I have surrounded myself with people who share the same interest in exploring other forms of expression. This artistic research is important for me personally in order to find ways that other musicians have been working with these phenomena, and to understand that these explorations are acceptable forms of expression and that they are beneficial in the formation of personal, musical and sonic identity.
My interest in instrument-making has been building together with my interest in instrument modification, but it has raised bigger questions concerning my identity. I have studied in multiple music institutions where the idea of musicians and the never ending need to practice have been constantly repeated. Countless hours spent in practice rooms alone with my woodwinds as well as performing and collaborating with others, has resulted in me identifying strongly as a musician. Even though some of my experimental work hasn’t always received the most positive feedback in certain surroundings, I have always felt quite confident with that work. In the process of discovering extended techniques or experimenting with effects pedals I have been constantly in the process of exploring, hearing new sounds, reflecting on them and moving forward with new knowledge. From time to time I have felt that I have hit a plateau, but it has been easier to understand the process when I’ve been constantly practicing and reflecting on the work.
With pure instrument-making practice I have found it harder to accept the time that it consumes. When I’m in my workshop or out in the woods, I can spend hours and hours carving or drilling a piece of wood, without getting it remotely close to a stage of making a sound. Sometimes this is a very good way of escaping from music and practicing, because physical activity with a repeating pattern is something that can really clear my mind being filled with thoughts. Still the more time passes, and especially if I end up cracking the piece of wood because of a tiny mistake, I start questioning my actions and ways that I spend time. The idea of me needing to be in a room practicing has been so stuck in my head that I have found it hard to calm myself down for the instrument-making work. I have described and observed my thoughts on the dilemma between time consumption with instrument-making and playing related activities in my personal journal entries (2021-2022), which are filed under the category ‘additional material’.
The process of understanding how much time can and needs to be consumed with instrument-making and how I can learn something from every broken flute, has helped me to identify as a musician AND an instrument-maker. Carving wood as well as practicing scales or experimenting with multiphonics is as big of a part of my artistic practice and therefore has equal value. This realization has helped me to calm down and try to accept the time passing or possible drawbacks. Just like playing music, in the purest form instrument-making can become almost like a meditative experience.
CODA
My intention with this artistic research was to gain knowledge in the field of instrument-making and instrument modification, a field that I had been exploring previously myself, and which I will likely continue to explore for the rest of my life. Keen interest was also given to understanding the effects of studying music from various traditions as well as for the formation of artistic identity. This research started with the question “How can instrument making, instrument modification and the practical exploration of these phenomena affect a musician's identity and artistic practice?”
Alongside this text, the outcomes of this artistic research are new techniques for my instruments, new self-built instruments, new instrument modifications, new compositions, new collaborations, and a concert that presents all of these elements in an artistic format.
This artistic research was constructed of five categories: 1. instrument-making; 2. instrument modification; 3. identity; 4. traditions and cultures; and 5. possible problems. Some outcomes fall under multiple categories of the five categories listed, for example, the shakuhachi-mouthpiece for bass clarinet, which connects instrument-making related handcraft with inspiration from other traditions, resulting in an instrument-modification outcome that also correlates with my identity. My solo composition, Fragmented Reflection, can be seen as another example of work that combines categories, such as inspiration from other traditions with electroacoustic modification.
Instrument-making, instrument modification, preparations, and augmenting instruments, electro-acousticity as well as through extended techniques, are all ways that musicians can search for new artistic expression. Interest in finding new sounds and sonic aesthetics, finding unexpected qualities through experimenting and improvisation, as well as the need to work hands-on to produce new musical tools are some of the interests and values that musicians working in this field share.
I have learned how important it is to listen to myself and my emotions while building instruments. Feeling tired, unfocused, angry or any other type of negative mindset will most likely affect the instrument-making in a negative way.
Instrument-making can benefit the music learners' ability to understand sound production and acoustics, help students feel more connected to their instruments and help students to become interested and gain knowledge from other musical cultures (Matsunobu, 2013). Instrument-making has been integrated into part of some music universities curricula, (see Uniarts Study Guide, 2022) but is missing widely from early music education. By quoting his earlier work done in 2012, Matsunobu (2013) suggested “a ‘slow-food’ approach to music education, the one that begins with making instruments as a way of localizing, historicizing, and personalizing each individual’s music-making process” (p.199). This approach and the positive effects of instrument-making could be researched more in the field of music education and should be taken in consideration in music institutions' curricula.
In the field of music education, instrument-making related activities can be presented as either too difficult for someone who is not a professional instrument builder, or as too easy of an activity, something that would be suitable only for a one time experience for children (Matsunobu, 2013. Smith, 2018). TV and other media formats might also introduce instrument-making as a form of entertainment, which may result in the audience seeing these activities more as a gimmick than forms of artistic expression or exploration.
Globalization can disconnect consumers from producers, which can make it hard for musicians to realize what are the natural resources needed in the production of their musical instruments (Smith, 2018). Global warming is a serious threat to modern life on earth, and further study also in the field of instrument-making is required to find solutions to tackle the ecological and ethical problems it faces.
For many musicians, instrument-making and instrument modification correlates in a mutually expanding relationship with their identity. Past experiences in music and life, as well as cultural and geographical factors form an identity for musicians. Experimenting with instrument modification can bring this identity out in a sonic form. On the other hand, a musicians' identity can change again during the process of experimenting and performing with augmented, modified or self-built instruments, as well as through collaborative work between musicians from different cultures.
Studying instruments and music from traditions outside a musicians' own culture can act as an inspiration for finding new ways of expression. This expression can be created through embodying certain aesthetics of a tradition by modifying an instrument, or through extended techniques, for example. Musicians have been sharing and gaining knowledge from one tradition to another for a long time. In our modern globalized time, musicians are able to gain knowledge from other traditions easier than ever due to the amount of material available. This also demands musicians to be increasingly aware of the possible consequences of their actions, as studying music outside one’s own tradition can raise questions of cultural appropriation.
In this artistic research, I have discovered some ways that instrument-making and instrument modification can affect a musicians' identity. I have also reflected on these practices within music education and within the study of different musical traditions (including inter/transcultural collaboration). This foundation creates an opportunity for further personal research that might connect these areas in the field of music education, posing questions such as: how does instrument-making, instrument modification, the study of other traditions and transcultural collaboration in music education affect the formation of students' sonic and artistic identities? It also creates an opportunity for further artistic research investigating the formation of my personal artistic identity by drawing data from my artistic processes within instrument-making, instrument modification, composition, improvisation and intercultural collaboration.
Trees cut down as a welfare measure, still very much suitable for instrument-making
Keskuspuisto, 2022
VIDEO
Playing an overtone flute on a dance-theater piece. Build from a metal pipe that I found from trashyard.
Performers: Jaakko Arola, Samppa Heikkinen
Video: Saimaa-Ilmiö 2026
Playing a transverse-flute made from water pipe on a contemporary dance piece
PELTO, Kangasniemi, 2021
REFERENCES
LITERATURE
Antonini Philippe, R., Kosirnik, C., Ortuño, E. & Biasutti, M. (2021). Flow and music performance: Professional musicians and music students’ views. Psychology of music, 30573562110309. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356211030987
Burtner, M. (2005). Making noise: Extended techniques after experimentalism. New Music Box, 71(6).
Busch, K. (2009). Artistic Research and the Poetics of Knowledge. ART&RESEARCH: A Journal of Ideas, Contexts and Methods. Volume 2. No. 2. Spring 2009 http://www.artandresearch.org.uk/v2n2/busch.html
Carmenates, O. (2010). Honduras Rosewood: Its endangerment and subsequent impact on the percussion industry.
Castrillón, S. (2019). New timbral directions in the contemporary cello repertoire : Analysis of works by Colombian composers from 2000 to 2015 http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-51-5099-8
Cazeaux, C. (2017). What is artistic research? https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315764610-3
Dick, A. (2015). Ḍaph. https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.L2285542
Fischer, Parks & Mannhart. (2019). Bio-Inspired Synthetic Ivory as a Sustainable Material for Piano Keys. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 11(23), 6538. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236538
Hendrickse, J & Thomson, N (2005). Transcultural arts practice. The reflective conservatoire: studies in music education. London: The Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Ashgate Publishing Company.
Hendrickse, J. (2019). THE BODY AS MUSICAL STRUCTURE. Tempo (London), 73(287), 36-40. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0040298218000621
Hess, J. (2013). Performing Tolerance and Curriculum: The Politics of Self-Congratulation, Identity Formation, and Pedagogy in World Music Education. Philosophy of music education review, 21(1), 66-91. https://doi.org/10.2979/philmusieducrevi.21.1.66
Hess, J. (2015). Decolonizing music education: Moving beyond tokenism. International journal of music education, 33(3), 336-347. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761415581283
Hess, J. (2017). A Teaching Perspective on the Dangers of Engaging in “World” Music: Ethical World Music Pedagogy Michigan State University
Herald, C. R. (2017). The Advent of an Artist-Composer Movement Exemplified by the Works of Saxophonists Colin Stetson, Evan Parker, and Contemporaries.
Hill, J. (2007). 'Global Folk Music' Fusions: The Reification of Transnational Relationships and the Ethics of Cross-Cultural Appropriations in Finnish Contemporary Folk Music. Yearbook for traditional music, 39, 50-83.
Kallio, A. A. (2020). Decolonizing music education research and the (im)possibility of methodological responsibility. Research studies in music education, 42(2), 177-191. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X19845690
Keister, J. (2004). The Shakuhachi as Spiritual Tool: A Japanese Buddhist Instrument in the West1. Asian music, 35(2), 99-131.
Matsunobu, K. (2013). Instrument-making as music-making: An ethnographic study of shakuhachi students’ learning experiences. International journal of music education, 31(2), 190-201. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761413486858
MacClany, J. (2020). Contesting Art - Art, Politics and Identity in the Modern World (1st ed.). Taylor and Francis. Retrieved from https://www.perlego.com/book/1718781/contesting-art-pdf
MOEHN, F. (2009). A Carioca Blade Runner, or How Percussionist Marcos Suzano Turned the Brazilian Tambourine into a Drum Kit, and Other Matters of (Politically) Correct Music Making. Ethnomusicology, 53(2), 277-307.
Olarte, A. (2019.) Elements of Electroacoustic Music Improvisation and Performance
[Doctoral Thesis, University of the Arts, Helsinki]
Potts, B. J. (2012). Marcos Suzano and the amplified pandeiro: Techniques for nontraditional performance.
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Ryan, R. A. (2015). ‘Didjeri-dus’ and ‘Didjeri-don’ts’: Confronting Sustainability Issues. Journal of Music Research Online, 6.
Smith, A. (2018). Reconnecting the music-making experience through musician efforts in instrument craft. International journal of music education, 36(4), 560-573. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761418771993
Snow, A. M. (2016). The West African drum set: Applying mande djembé traditions to the modern drum set.
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Särkiö-Pitkänen, A. (2019). SENSIBILITY FOR WOOD IN INSTRUMENT BUILDING. Finnish music quarterly, 14.
Thomson, N. R. & Lähdeoja, O. (2019). Forming a Sonic Identity through the Integration of Transculturality and Technology. Body, space & technology journal, 18(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.16995/bst.316
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Wood, J. (2008). 4 examples of the prepared drum set. EQ (Cupertino, Calif.), 19(2), 56.
VIDEOS AND FILMS
Arola, J. (2021). Shakuhachi - Japanese bamboo growing in the Finnish forest [Short documentary]. Published in Youtube by Jaakko Arola (2021, May 30). https://youtu.be/tf2w3KIGK5I
Arola, J. (2021, December 31). Jaakko Arola - Fragmented Reflection [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/183yjf4yWmw
BBC. Pernays, B. (2011). Scrapheap Orchestra [TV Documentary].
Chesworth, D. (2002). The Outsider: The story of Harry Partch [TV Documentary].
Kahan, A. (2014). The Case of the Three Sided Dream [Documentary]
Ossi Percussion (2017, March 13). The story of Ossi Percussion [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/p6rlcPw0-Ns
Sam Newsome (2018, October 26). ‘SaxDrum’ - Prepared Saxophone Series [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/KMq3exQAenk
TEDx Talks. (2013, November 8). The world sends us garbage, we send back music: Favio Chavez at TEDxAmsterdam [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/CsfOvJEdurk
TEDx Talks. (2014, June 11). The sound of an environmental crisis: Bill Townsend at TEDxWooster [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/zkrUQvXUS-k
q on cbc. (2011, October 14). Saxophonist Colin Stetson on Studio Q [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/DWMmJuTjkO8
Van Acker, A (2017). ‘Sound Sculptre’ - A portrait of Fujara/flutemaker Winne Clement
[Short documentary] Published in Youtube by Winne Clement (2017, January 28) https://youtu.be/ajf6DI4yAKY
Winne Clement (2015, April 5). Double Kaval (Kavalghoza) solo - Winne Clement [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/X88fTwb2Jmk
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De Decker, K. (2015, July 19). 21st Century Craftsmen: Winne Clement, Flutemaker
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Hazelwood, C. (2014). Scrapheap Orchestra
Retrieved March 14, 2022 from https://www.charleshazlewood.com/scrapheap-orchestra
Laing, R. (2020). Tom Morello: “I’ve been accused countless times of using a ton of effects - but I’ve used the same four pedals for the last 30 years” Retrieved March 28, 2022 from https://www.musicradar.com/news/tom-morello-ive-been-accused-of-using-a-ton-of-effects-but-ive-used-the-same-four-pedals-for-the-last-30-years
Meier, E. (2020). Restricted and Endangered Wood Species The Wood Database
Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/restricted-and-endangered-wood-species/
Nyrhinen, J. (2012). MÄSÄ UNIVERSE
Retrieved March 28, 2022 from https://masauniverse.tumblr.com/
Simon, A. D. & Yun, G. (2018, May 1). Capturing Japanese Aesthetic in Eric Mandat’s “Folk Songs”, Fourth Movement
Retrieved March 21, 2022 from https://clarinet.org/capturing-japanese-aesthetic-in-eric-mandats-folk-songs-fourth-movement/
Thurlow, A. (2000-2020). Anarchestra
Retrieved March 28, 2022 from https://www.anarchestra.org/
Uniarts, Helsinki Study Guide (2022). S-GM16 Experimental instrument making
Retrieved April 1, 2022 from https://opinto-opas.uniarts.fi/fi/opintojakso/S-GM16/1191
Usarzewicz, W. (2015, April 7). How to Make a Branch Flute - Part 2: Branches 101
Retrieved March 28, 2022 from https://flutecraft.org/how-to-make-branch-flute-part-2-branches-101/54
Warburton, D. (2001). Keith Rowe Interviewed by Dan Warburton
Retrieved March 8, 2022 from http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/interviews/rowe.html
PUBLISHED RECORDINGS
Castrillón, S. (2022). GLOBAL SOUNDSCAPES for solo modified-cello
INTERVIEWS, DISCUSSIONS, RECORDINGS AND JOURNAL ENTRIES
Adewale, A. (2022). Recorded interview, Zoom, 2 March 2022. Video and audio recordings are in the possession of the researcher.
Arola, J. (2022). Personal journal entries, 2021-2022. Journals are in the possession of the researcher.
Arola, J. (2022). Personal practice recordings, 2021-2022. Recordings are in the possession of the researcher.
Castrillón, S. (2022). Recorded interview, Musiikkitalo, 25 March 2022. Audio recording is in the possession of the researcher.
Thomson, N. R. (2022). Recorded interview, Musiikkitalo, 16 February 2022. Audio recording is in the possession of the researcher.
IDENTITY
How does instrument-making affect one's identity and how does identity affect instrument-making?
From my own experience and through the interviews that I have done, it has become clear to me that all of these explorations have a big impact on musicians if they are honestly interested in finding new ways of expression through these methods. Adriano Adewale (2022) explained his connection to this experimental work by saying that “I don’t try to create new techniques for the sake of creating new techniques, but I am constantly trying to find new ways of playing. I like that, I like being in that context which pushes me to be creative. I think this is very healthy” (interview transcript, 2022). As stated by Thomson (2022) “the explorations and experiments that I have done have become more and more a part of my practice and a part of my sound and my identity as a bass player. Overtime they become not just ‘add-ons’ but things that are very much part of the instrument that I play and the sounds that I hear” (interview transcript, 2022). Thomson’s collaborative work with Finnish sound-artist and musician Otso Lähdeoja titled Forming a Sonic Identity through the Integration of Transculturality and Technology (2019) explains how Thomson’s approach to his double bass has formed from multiple sources, including Western playing techniques, techniques that are inspired by Tanzanian musical phenomena, as well as electronic and acoustic augmentation of his bass. These approaches, combined with ongoing engagement with intercultural dialogue and transcultural collaboration are some elements that have contributed to forming Thomson’s sonic and artistic identity.
The experiments with instrument modification do change a musician’s identity, but a musician’s identity can also affect the way that the instrument gets modified. Colombian cellist and composer Sergio Castrillón mentioned in an interview that I held in 2022 that the experiments with modifying his cello came from a necessity to correlate with his identity. As a young student in the conservatory, Castrillón was studying cello and classical music, music that was composed hundreds of years ago before he was even born. Music that felt distant to him and his era. He started to experiment and search for different sounds by using guitar effects pedals to modify the sound of his cello. In this way he could connect more with his musical heritage, which came from listening to rock and jazz music in his childhood, music outside the tradition of Western classical music that he was studying.
Castrillón also found a deeper connection with contemporary classical music from the 20th century, which had elements that he could feel connected to, partly due to the reason that it was composed closer to the time he was born, as in closer to his era (Castrillón, recorded interview, 2022). Through contemporary classical music, Castrillón found extended techniques, which became another way of modifying his playing. Many similar sounds that effects pedals produce can be produced with alternative playing techniques. This led Castrillón to leave the electronics behind and concentrate on extended techniques through improvisation and composition for many years.
The third way of modifying his cello was done by actually modifying the body of the cello. For years Castrillon searched for new sound qualities from his cello by detuning the strings of the cello, changing the position of the bridge or the strings, ungluing parts of the body to create resonance and noise, and by experimenting with using cello spikes made from different materials. This whole process was driven by improvisation and experimentation and led Castrillón to modify his cello to feel more natural to him, to become more like an extension of his body (Castrillón, recorded interview, 2022). The end result of this experimentation can be heard very well on his album GLOBAL SOUNDSCAPES for solo modified-cello (2022).
EDUCATIONAL VIEWPOINT, CONNECTION TO THE INSTRUMENTS AND IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING ONE’S MINDSET
In his study “Instrument-making as music-making: An ethnographic study of shakuhachi students’ learning experiences” (2013) Koji Matsunobu investigates ways that instrument-making can affect music learners' view towards music and the instruments in use. By analyzing different studies made in the same field, Matsunobu pointed out that involving students in the process of making their own instruments increases their understanding of the science behind sound production and can make students more interested in different instruments and musical cultures. By observing and interviewing the informants Matsunobu found out that the practice of instrument-making made the practitioners more connected to their instrument and created a better learning environment for shakuhachi and its music (Matsunobu, 2013).
When discussing the connection towards the instruments with percussionist Adriano Adewale in an interview held in 2022, he found similarities between humans and their offspring:
“When you make an instrument… I don’t know, maybe it’s like making a baby (chuckles). Yes, because you are giving birth to something right in front of your eyes and you are thinking of that sound. You are shaping an entity there. The life of that instrument has started with you. It’s really special” (Adewale, interview transcript, 2022).
Matsunobu (2013) found out in his case study that the same parental feeling towards the instrument was present among the practitioners building a shakuhachi. Terms “parent-like” and “God-like” were used among practitioners to express their feelings toward the instrument they are making. In parental relationships the player/maker will try to accommodate their playing to the way that the bamboo plays naturally. Vise-versa in God-like relationships, whereby the practitioner will try to force the bamboo to play in a way that the player wants to.
Instrument-making within the context of Western classical music can be often seen as God-like where the material is being pushed to create as pure of a sound as possible. Whereas in many traditions, like the Japanese shakuhachi tradition Honkyoku, the natural qualities of the instrument will become the essence of the instrument's sound (Keister, 2004). Woodwind player Jan Hendrickse talks about the differences in sound qualities in shakuhachi music and Western classical music in his article THE BODY AS MUSICAL STRUCTURE (2019):
“Japanese music contains the concept of sawari, which can be translated as roughness or noise. In the case of the shakuhachi this results from the intense bodily engagement with the material nature of the instrument, bamboo and the air. The Boehm system flute, by contrast, is imbued with an entirely different ideological orientation towards nature. It is a mechanical instrument designed around an ergonomic schema to allow the player easiest access to even tone production across a mathematically determined pitch structure” (p. 37).
The mindset and the emotions that the artist is feeling have a big impact on the artistic outcome. This can be seen in many fields of art, including composing, performing music or in instrument-making. Research has shown that achieving a flow state while performing music can result in a better performance and musical expression (see Antonini Philippe, et al, 2021. Spahn, Krampe, Nusseck, 2021). Anger and frustration-based emotions can lead to new explorations during compositional or improvisational processes, but they can negatively affect work that needs caution and a clear mind. Belgian instrument-maker and musician Winne Clement talks about the connection between his mindset and the instruments he builds in a short documentary Sound Sculpture (Van Acker, 2017). “I make my best instruments when I’m enthusiastic about my work. If I don’t feel excited to go to my studio, I don’t build any instruments. I believe that my feelings become part of the instruments I build” (Clement, 2017). I have personally experienced how tiredness, anxiety, and frustration can affect instrument-making negatively, and in the worst case might result in the instrument breaking (see journal entries 19.11.2021 and 17.1.2022).
POLITICAL AND PERSONAL MESSAGES
Artists have been expressing their feelings and views throughout the world through their art for decades. Especially in modern times art has become a major political weapon (MacClancy, 2020). As with other artists, instrument-makers also send political messages through the instruments they make. Composer and instrument-maker Harry Partch built his instrument called ‘Spoils of War’ using artillery casings and cloud-chamber bowls which were originally made to be used as weapons in war (Corey, 2020). This instrument, built in the 1950's, can be seen as a strong political statement in the post World War II era. In archive footage seen in the documentary The Outsider: the Story of Harry Partch (Chesworth, 2002) Partch introduced the instrument by saying “this is a Spoils of War. So named because of the seven brass artillery casings hanging here. And how much better could have them hang here than shredding young men's bodies on the battlefield” (Partch, 2002).
I’ve been concerned about climate change and the non-sustainable way that we live on this planet. For example, people throw away a lot of material that is still in perfect condition. Using recycled material as part of my artistic practice is one way of dealing with these thoughts and trying to make something useful out of it.
Instrument makers might also use material in their work that doesn’t necessarily have a political statement but a strong personal connection or story. In a short documentary Shakuhachi - Japanese Bamboo Growing in the Finnish Forest (Arola, 2021) woodwind player, composer and instrument-maker Otto Eskelinen explains how he built a shakuhachi type of a flute from a branch of a tree that had burnt down in a fire accident. His family's dogs had been buried under that tree, and by making this instrument Eskelinen feels that the spirits of these dogs somehow live through the instrument when he plays it. (Eskelinen, 2021).
INSTRUMENT-MAKING
I started investigating woodwind instrument-making in 2018 with pieces of plastic, copper and metal pipes that I had found from a dumpster. With these materials I could study how the sound is produced, what affects the clarity or roughness of the sound and how to measure the distance between finger holes. Even though a material like PVC pipes, for example, can very well be someone's main source of sound, I have always felt that I wanted to work with wood. I think that this is connected with my childhood experiences living right next to the forest. I also tended to build something myself if I couldn’t get it otherwise, like for example carving drumsticks from a piece of wood and banging some pots and buckets at the age of 8 when I wasn’t able to get my hands around a drum set. This DIY (do it yourself) ideology is still part of my everyday life, not just in music.
After gaining some knowledge in sound production of wind instruments I started to work with wood. The first flutes that I tried to build from wood were made from trees that I had cut down with the permission of a landowner. Cutting down a tree always felt bad. Even if I had the landowner’s permission, I still had a feeling that I’m doing something wrong and cruel. Seeing a perfectly healthy tree growing beautifully in a forest doesn't really strike a need to cut it down and end its life. These thoughts made me look more for wood that has already been cut down or has fallen naturally.
I spend a lot of time walking in the forests, constantly keeping my eyes open for some fallen trees. Finding suitable material for instrument making is a difficult task as the wood needs to still be fresh, the correct size and correct shape (Usarzewicz, 2015). Therefore, I could never build instruments with an assembly line manufacturer style. With this building style that I use, every flute is unique, and every flute also has a story already before any sound is produced from it. The place where I found the wood, the way that the tree had fallen and other observations really stand out to be a core part of the instrument itself. Using naturally fallen trees for instrument-making is also more ecological than cutting down healthy trees. Ecological and ethical problems will be discussed more in the section below titled ‘Ecology’.
In my instrument making practice I connect ecological Finnish-wood with crafts-methods that are inspired by Slovakian instrument-making. I use mostly hand tools, such as hand-forged drills from the 19th century. These old hand-drills follow the natural shape of the wood, leaving a more precise finish (Clement, 2015). The instruments themselves are inspired by different traditional bamboo and reed instruments that I have been studying, such as the Japanese shakuhachi, Arabic ney, and the Indian bansuri flute. Although these instruments come from different parts of the world connected to different traditions, and have a different way of producing sound, they also share similar qualities (Ribble, 2003). Although I draw inspiration from these instruments in my work, I don't claim to be part of the traditions they represent. The material and making style of these instruments are so different from my way of working that I can’t consider my instruments to go under any of these instruments' traditions. I still have a big respect for all of these instruments, and I keep studying their tradition next to my practice of building new instruments. I will further discuss the topic of being inspired by other traditions and possible problems it might cause in the section titled ‘Cultural Problems in Modification Work and Cultural Discoveries Through Modification’.
I still build certain instruments from non-wooden materials, such as copper or metal. With these materials, as with wood, I try to use the most ecological resources. Some of the instruments that I build are made from recycled material, material that I have found from trash-containers and junkyards. Using trash to make playable instruments has been explored intensively especially among experimental instrument-making, (see, for example, the works of Andy Thurlow and Juhana Nyrhinen) but also among people who might not have the possibility to play a standardized instrument (see Justin Chavez, 2013). I will discuss this area and the problems it might create more extensively in the section titled ‘False assumption of gimmick’.
ECOLOGY
Awareness of the origins of the material used for an instrument
When I first became interested in exploring more woodwinds, I spent time browsing through the web, searching for instruments that fascinated me. It was hard to find any original hand-crafted instruments from a certain tradition in Finland, but many mass-production stores such as Thomann do sell replicated and cheap versions of many instruments. This has made it easy to order an instrument online and have it delivered to home within a week. In this situation I could have an instrument in my hand very fast, without knowing anything about the history, the manufacturing process or the culture where it comes from.
In many ways globalization is a wonderful thing, but it has its downsides. Globalization has distanced consumers from producers and natural resources that are needed in the production (Smith, 2018). In his research Reconnecting the music-making experience through musician efforts in instrument craft (2018)percussionist Alex Smith states that if globalization has caused us to become disconnected from the material and understanding of the process chain, then reconnection is the first step towards more sustainable music-making.
There are numerous examples of ethical issues within the manufacturing of musical instruments. For centuries ivory was used as the main material for coating piano keys. Ivory comes mainly from the tusks of African elephants and the demand for ivory has increased poaching, causing the elephant population to decrease by 60% in the last decade (Fischer, Parks & Mannhart, 2019). Tourism in Australia has taken the Aboriginal traditional and ecological way of building yidakis from termite-hollowed trees into mass-producing didgeridoos by cutting down healthy trees with machines (Ryan, 2015). Many species of wood such as Granadillo, African Blackwood, Rosewoods and Pernambuco that are widely used in the production of musical instruments like guitars, violins and clarinets are listed as endangered under the 2nd and 3rd Appendices by The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) (Carmenatas, 2009. Townsend, 2014, Meier 2022).
Starting to build instruments myself has made me more aware of the whole process of instrument-making. This realization has moved me away from this habit of buying new instruments without fully considering all ethical factors. I do still buy instruments made by others and from various traditions, but I do like to know that the material it is made from is not endangered, for example. Alternative resources, such as synthetic material or local wood instead of tropical wood, are needed for more sustainable instrument-making (Särkiö-Pitkänen, 2019). Old traditions and materials for building an instrument can be hard to change, but many instrument-makers are doing great work to create new and more sustainable techniques for instrument-making without losing any quality in the sound or playability of the instrument (see for example Raippalinna, 2017. Fischer, Parks & Mannhart, 2019).
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
CULTURAL PROBLEMS IN MODIFICATION WORK AND CULTURAL DISCOVERIES THROUGH MODIFICATION
Exploring new cultural traditions and taking elements from them to one's own artistic practice is an area that will, and rightfully should, bring up the question of cultural appropriation. This topic is too big to be discussed thoroughly here, but it is a factor that many musicians (including myself) from the genres of world, global, folk or traditional music (genre definitions can be vague and problematic as well) must think about on a daily basis. Musicians have always been transferring ideas between traditions, but in the modern and culturally diverse world musicians need to understand the challenges of this action (Hendrickse, 2005. As cited in Thomson & Lähdeoja, 2019.) Many musicians and researchers from these areas have done work to address the possible problems and dangers, as well as trying to bring solutions for the questions of cultural appropriation (see Hill, 2007, and Hess, 2013, for example). According to Hess (2017) some questions (among many) that persons navigating issues of cultural appropriation should ask themselves are:
- What is my relationship to the culture/people behind this music?
- What do I know about the context of the music?
- How do I benefit from engaging in this musical practice?
- Does anyone lose when I engage in this musical practice?
- How can I mediate these dynamics?
- Does my participation in this music make anyone upset? How do I address this? (p.2)
These are important questions for any musician as well as instrument-makers to ask themselves in their process and artistic practice. For example, I have studied ney and Arabic music by collaborating with musicians from that tradition and by participating in workshops held by teachers who are professionals in their field. I have a huge appreciation towards that musical tradition. But when I remove the headjoint of the silver flute and blow into the body in a similar way as I would play the ney, can there be a danger of it being seen as culturally inappropriate, as if I would be making fun of the tradition of Arabic music, even though that wouldn’t be my intention in any way?
These questions can probably never be fully answered, but it is important to be open about the possible misconceptions that might occur. I find it important to be able to discuss these with other people and to be able to share the process and to acknowledge the origins of what has led me into using a certain instrument, technique, or compositional style.
Curricula in many music institutions are highly focused on teaching Western classical music, which has led to an increasing call for decolonizing music education (Kallio, 2020. See also Hess, 2015.) Studying music and being surrounded by culture and phenomena from the Western world never made cellist Sergio Castrillón think about his own heritage as Southern American (Castrillón, 2022). Only during the time he was studying his master’s degree in Argentina and doing intensive research on South American indigenious culture, he realized that he was not an European white male. Also, the process of modifying his playing techniques had an effect on him discovering his identity and heritage. This made him explore how he can make the cello, an instrument from European classical tradition with Arabic roots, sound South American. In an interview in 2022 Castrillón mentioned that:
“I started to explore all these racial, cultural, geographical heritages I had. Then I found the piece that was missing. Because I always felt that there was something that was missing. Once I started to play the cello with sonorities similar to things that were like indigenious music from South America, then I found that this is my identity. Now I’m quite happy and content to play this instrument” (Castrillón, interview transcript, 2022).
This exploration with his own cultural heritage culminated in a composition called Desde las entrañas del Sudtrópico. Castrillón explains the background of this composition in his doctoral thesis(2019) by saying that “the timbral and technical complexity in the piece came from the composer’s impulse to deconstruct and re-signify the sound of the cello through the idea of connecting his work with a South American identity” (p.153).
FALSE ASSUMPTION OF GIMMICK
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Rahsaan Roland Kirk expressed himself through playing three saxophones at the same time, but his playing was not always well received. This idea had come to him in his dreams, and he based his artistic career and expression on exploring this territory of sounds. Still in 1950-1960’s this style of playing was unheard of, and the audience had a hard time receiving it as a form of artistic expression. As discussed in the documentary The Case of the Three Sided Dream (Kahan, 2014.), the audience thought that Kirk was doing some sort of a gimmick. This false perception bothered Kirk throughout his artistic career.
Artists have always been exploring new territories, and every time that a new style is introduced it takes time for the audience to get used to it and accept it. Some artists might fight against the reactions of the audience their whole life, some dying as poor and unrecognized. Some artists might gain fame and appreciation for their work but lose it later when they start exploring new and unheard territories. Only years after these artists have passed away people might realize that their art was just years ahead of its time. Stravinsky's premiere of Rite of the Spring started a riot in 1913 when the audience couldn’t understand the rhythm of the orchestral work or the dissonant elements. 100 years later, it is now an appreciated and often-performed piece of classical music. (Khua, 2007. Also mentioned by Thomson in an interview, 2022). The same phenomenon is seen in many other art forms as well, like painter Vincent van Gogh living in poverty and getting recognition for his work only after his death, or most of writer Franz Kafka's books being published only posthumously (Britannica, 2021).
While discussing the problem of instrument modification and preparation being seen as a gimmick with Nathan Riki Thomson in an interview held in 2022, he pointed out that visual artists have been pushing the boundaries of their art form for a longer time, but musicians have tended to be a bit more conservative, breaking boundaries and preconceived ideas more gradually. Therefore, many new explorations are not always well received from audiences who are used to hearing familiar things.
In 2011 BBC introduced a TV-documentary Scrapheap Orchestra, where conductor Charles Hazelwood gave a challenge to 10 instrument-makers to build instruments entirely from trash for the BBC Concert Orchestra to perform Tchaikovsky’s symphony at the BBC Proms (BBC, 2011). The instrument-makers who participated in the project had established careers within building high quality professional Western orchestral instruments. During the process, the instrument-makers themselves learnt a lot and had to experiment, but certain frustrations were very presen, since the instruments built from trash obviously didn’t have the same qualities as wooden or brass instruments with a long tradition.
The musicians from the BBC orchestra weren’t present in the process of building the instruments. They received the instruments in a rehearsal, with the aim of performing a piece that was written originally for a symphony orchestra that plays with established Western classical instruments. The feedback from the musicians in the first rehearsal was filled with frustration since they couldn’t play the instruments made from trash in the same way that they are used to playing with their own instruments. This feedback resulted in the instrument-makers using more of a hybrid model of instrument making, using material that they would normally use, mixed with recycled materials. This hybrid building approach was a departure from the original idea of building only from recycled materials, resulting in a different kind of concept.
In the end, the orchestra played the symphony for a full concert hall audience. The outcome of the concert was a well performed piece, and it most likely gave people awareness of the possibility of creating something beautiful from trash, but the focus on ‘entertainment’ was very present in the project. Some of the instruments were filled with gimmicks such as plastic crocs-shoes hanging from the side of the cello, which took away the seriousness of the fact that instruments could very well be made from alternative materials.
Ecological instrument making, mostly in terms of building instruments from recycled materials has already been widely recognized, but mostly in the way that it becomes just one time entertainment. Why couldn’t there be just one or two instruments in the orchestra that are constructed from ecological materials, with no extra attention placed on them about how they survive throughout the concert?
INSTRUMENT-MAKING PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS IN MUSIC EDUCATION
By researching music education that has instrument-making activity in it, Matsunobu (2013) found out many positive sides that it can give, but also that many of these activities are seen as separate from the education of music. Quoting Matsunobus work from 2013 and continuing with his own view, Smith (2018) states that instrument making can easily become just an exploration with no deeper or long-lasting effects, almost like a children's play:
“The suggested projects in these books may lead to entertaining, one-shot activities, leaving an impression that instrument-making is not a part of music education, the purpose of which is believed to deal more with the ‘serious’ matters of music” (2013, p. 191). In other words, if the instruments that are made through such activities are not meant to be long lasting or taken seriously, students may misconstrue the role of musical instruments and the labor required to make them, potentially overlooking the creative and educational potential of instrument craft.” (p. 563).
Conductor Hazelwood has stated that the idea for the Scrapheap Orchestra (2011) project came from seeing people perform music with instruments made out of trash in South Africa (Hazelwood, 2014). Still, I think that the entertainment value became bigger than the investigation of how trash can be used in musical expression in the Scrapheap Orchestra project. This idea of building orchestral instruments from trash has still been explored more as an educational and enabling source in Asuncion, Paraguay, where a youth orchestra is able to practice and learn music by using instruments made from trash. The conductor of this youth orchestra, Favio Chavez, mentioned in his Ted Talk (2013) that making instruments from recycled material is a way of giving a possibility for local children to learn classical music. This orchestra is active in a poor area of Asuncion where a Western classical instrument is worth more than a house. People wouldn’t have the chance of studying music without the possibility of building instruments from recycled materials (Chavez, 2013).
VIDEO
Using woodwinds and effect pedals in electroacoustic improvisation
Kalle Rinne (electric guitar and effects)
Jaakko Arola (bass clarinet, bansuri flute and electronics)
Marco Menditto (laptop)
Video: Uniarts, Helsinki 2020
