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Catalog Essay: THE SHAPES OF SOUND:
Musical Instruments and the Imagination |
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An exhibiton of the work of musical instrument inventors from
Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota, curated by Hal Rammel,
October - December, 1997
Woodland Pattern Book Center
Milwaukee, WI
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Catalog essay—
The Shapes of Sound: Musical Instruments and the
Imagination
The American composer Lou Harrison has described the building of a
musical instrument as one of music’s greatest joys: “indeed , to make
an instrument is in some strong sense to summon the future.” THE
SHAPES OF SOUND gathers together thirty very unique musical instruments
by fourteen inventors/builders/visual artists from the midwestern
United States. All of the designers and builders in this exhibition
share a refined sense of the visual character and impact of these
instruments balanced with their potential for musical exploration and
discovery. Their very personal explorations of sound are beautifully
embodied in these unique musical objects. Inspired equally by natural
and recycled materials, found objects and chance discoveries, dreams
and reveries, or dedicated scholarship and methodical research the
forms achieved in these works are quite surprising and diverse. Truly,
this is music-making from the ground up.
All musical instruments were invented once. Experimentation is not the
provence of the twentieth century avant garde. All instruments have
been invented, modified, and refined by individual discovery and
innovation. Traditions are nourished by just such individual resolve
and perspicacity. Unfortunately, we know nothing of the inventor of
the kalimba (sometimes referred to as a thumb piano). Even many of its
more recent modifications and elaborations have been lost to time,
although scholars such as Nadi Qamar and Paul Berliner have done much
to document and preserve this history. This is not only to say that
the success of invention and innovation lies in the initiation of a
long-lasting lineage. The value and pleasure of today’s discovery
exceeds the significance of its future impact.
The creation of the one-of-a-kind forms we see in this exhibition
provoke not only new shapes and new music but, also, and most
importantly, new questions. This is, it seems to me, the heart of Lou
Harrison’s observation that instrument-making “summons the future.” In
the face of global entertainment industry’s efforts to mold, sell, and
profit from the world’s music, sincere and innovative ideas persist and
thrive. These ideas beg response: from other inventors, other
musicians, other artists, and other listeners. This dialogue with
others and with the material, visual, and auditory world is our future.
The musical experiences offered by these shapes of sound celebrate this
future and music’s and life’s limitless possibilities lying well within
the reach of everyone’s curiosity and sense of adventure.
Hal Rammel, 1997 |
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