Crafting New Musical Possibilities: A New Educational Area for Academic Music?

CRAFTING NEW MUSICAL POSSIBILITIES: A NEW EDUCATIONAL AREA FOR ACADEMIC MUSIC? ALEX SMITH INTRODUCTION N THIS PAPER, I ARGUE THAT THE ADDITION of instrument craft to traditional curricula for academic music enhances the musical possibilities and educational experience available to music students. When various areas of academic music negotiate, unique musical products are possible. Of these, scholars have discussed negotiations and collaborations between composition and performance,1 performance and music theory,2 performance and musicology,3 and composition and musicology.4 In academic music, instrument craft is rarely able to interact to the same extent as these areas. Negotiations between instrument craft and composition can similarly yield unique musical results, such as when the variety of possibilities related to homemade instrument types, timbres, and designs allow for creative musical products. The Michigan-based percussion group Groove, the Blue Man Group, and Stomp are just three current examples of artists known for making their own instruments that they I 220 Perspectives of New Music then use in composition and performance. From PVC instruments, to propane tank drums, to modified found objects, craft to some degree is a component of their musical identities. However, the Brazilian percussion ensemble Uakti might be one of the most notable examples of artists who incorporate instrument craft into their overall musicmaking experience. According to the group’s website, “Uakti’s music begins with a sonic palette made possible by the instruments they make from everyday materials: PVC pipe, glass, metal, rocks, rubber, gourds, and water.”5 Harry Partch, though, might be considered the most widely recognized for producing instruments, compositions, and performances that are all inextricably linked. According to Kakinuma: The significance of Partch’s instruments in the composition and performance of his music cannot be overemphasized. The instruments were made for the particular type of music that the composer had in mind; the range, timbre, visual shape, as well as the tuning of his instruments are intimately related to his music.6 Partch himself states: My work takes its character from the instruments I have built, played completely and from my ideas and attitudes. The clarinets, cellos, and basses for which I occasionally ask can never take over this responsibility, however brilliantly they are played.7 Due to both the passing of Harry Partch and the uniqueness of his instruments, some have been encouraged to pursue efforts towards their conservation.8 These efforts are of course valuable, but perhaps even more valuable is the process of music creation that Partch brings to the table and that has been less frequently undertaken since his passing. The artists discussed above have all incorporated instrument craft in ways that yield unique musical products. Incorporating instrument craft into scholarly discussions of musical experiences can present new interdisciplinary challenges and opportunities to music students. Students who craft their own instruments must deal with issues of engineering, acoustics, and musical artistry simultaneously. Additionally, students who participate in such experiences might develop stronger understandings for the ways their instruments inform and are informed by the music they make.9 This paper will emphasize the unique soundscapes that can be yielded as a result of incorporating unconventional materials into Crafting New Musical Possibilities 221 musical instruments. It will also discuss the ways experimental instrument design can inform music composition. Data are drawn from a Michigan State University–based case study that incorporates instrument craft into the music-making experience. In the sections below, I will first provide background information on the ethnographic setting. This will be followed by a review of some of the unique musical possibilities that result from a consideration of both instrument craft and composition. The motivation for this paper is largely in response to a call to further establish the legitimacy of educational curricula that incorporate instrument craft.10 I further contribute to this discussion by suggesting that craft is not just a submissive starting point, but an area that can actively inform the music-making experience. OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH STUDY Over the course of summer and fall 2014, I conducted ethnographic research with the percussion sextet Los Bandidos. Together we composed for and performed on the musical instruments we made from mostly sustainable and recycled materials. These...