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New and rediscovered instruments
Max Eastley outlines the possibilities of workshops on new and rediscovered instruments
When I first began to study musical instruments in the early seventies with like minded friends, we published a small book entitled New and Re-discovered Musical Instruments. I still think this name is a good description of research that uses new technology, yet is aware of the past and the potential of combining the two.
Basics and History
The theory of the basic principles of how musical instruments work, simple acoustic theory and the different categories of instrument - strings, wind, percussion, electronic and electroacoustic - would be a good point to start from. This could then be expanded into an historical overview of the evolution of instruments worldwide, eventually converging on the 20th century. This is a vast subject and some work in advance by participants would be advisable. Reference books such as The History of Musical Instruments by Curt Sachs, Percussion Instruments and their History by James Blades, Hugh Davies' writing on modern instruments in the Groves New Dictionary, Musical Instruments: a comprehensive dictionary by Sybil Marcuse, and The Genesis of a Music by Harry Partch would prove an invaluable basis form which to work.
There are also several major collections of musical instruments which are open to us: the Horniman museum in London, the Pitt Rivers Balfour collection in Oxford, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the collection of mechanical musical instruments in Brentford. Visits to these museums can be arranged for groups to become familiar with most of the types in current use and many that are not.
Preparing
In the same way that notions of what constitutes music have been challenged by contemporary music, this has also been expanded into what constitutes an instrument. In contemporary music there are examples of composers and musicians taking an existing instrument and modifying it in some way, notably John Cage and his preparing of the piano so that not only was the tempered nature radically modified, but the tonal quality was transformed from strings to percussion. This has its historical counterpart in the phenomena of 'masking' a sound in certain cultures worldwide, such as changing the human voice or the sound of the xylophone with tubes and membranes, known as mirliton devices. The guitar can also be prepared with clips and rods threaded through the strings, laid flat and played with battery-operated fans.
Other places to look
An area that is not usually included in a purely musical approach to sound is the technique of sound effects, most notably in the technique of Foley in which the operator watches a film and produces sound to follow the action on the screen. One example of this is the technique used to mimic the sound of footsteps in the snow by filling a sock with custard powder and bending it at appropriate moments.
In practical terms some instruments or, alternately, sound objects, are very easy to make. For example, cutting a slot in a plastic film canister, threading a piece of string through the lid produces a whistling bird sound; or a piece of nylon fishing line threaded thorough a yoghurt pot and tied to a match can be pulled tight and played with wet fingers. Instruments can be simple or complex. I'm sure that workshops starting from the above premise would prove of use to anyone involved in any area of contemporary music. Many things are capable of making sound - with a little knowledge of basic principles, plus digital technology, the possibilities are endless.