Handmade Music

Catalog description

Design, build, practice, perform, record, recycle, repeat. In this fabrication-heavy course, students will create new musical instruments, devices and toys that can be performed and manipulated by humans, machines, animals and the supernatural. We will experiment with shapes, materials, and analog/digital technologies to create new performative instruments that defy common sense, yet are visually beautiful and sonically adventurous. Our main sources of inspiration will be the industrial revolution, punk subculture, soap operas, cartoons, Fluxus, the universe, and New York City. Our goal will be to devise musical instruments that can be mastered but also played without skill or music education. We will utilize various building tools and Art Studio materials such as 3D modelling and printing, electronics, wood shop, CNC, laser cutting, cardboard and paint. In each weekly iteration, students will compose, record and perform original music with their instruments, sometimes as an ensemble. The semester will end with an exhibition featuring our instruments and sheet music, with a final performance for a live audience.