Do-it-yourself public sound installations are serendipitous surprises: Former Talking Head David Byrne wired the Battery Maritime Building to emphasize its haunted house groans and creaks, and it’s further improved by human agency. A few hundred yards away, chimes are planted amidst the shrubbery. Leap on them.
“Playing the Building,” an ingenious installation by the man who sang “Psycho Killer, qu’est qe c’est?”, triggers whooshes, clanks, buzzes and such with the keys of an old organ which sits in the center of a large, high-ceilinged room of an otherwise empty old port structrure. It will be in place through August 24, open basically during business hours. When I attended on a rainy Saturday after “Playing the Building” had just been opened, a line of would-be Byrne collaborators was waiting to explore what the keyboard could make the room do. It could have taken half an hour or more to explore and connect particular keys and stop-settngs to the sounds they started, and no one had the moxie to command so much the time, so the result was everybody dabbled and nothing could be planned (or “composed”).
I am a music lover and I know how to play guitar. I have always wanted to learn how to play a flute but after months of practice and learning, I decided I better stick to guitars.
That is why I admire people like you who play flute. I envy you actually and from the sound of your article, You seemed to have a very good time doing hopscotch and at the same time making those beautiful sounds.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience.
HM: Thanks for your nice note. I’m not even passable on air guitar.
What an experience, good for you. Sounds like an amazing time. The flute is such a wonderful instrument and is capable of so many types of sounds.
Yeah, the more instruments the better. I play guitar, trumpet, piano, but still missing the flute.
That’s pretty interesting. At first I didn’t quite catch it, but now I see what the purpose is. Its a great exploration in aural exercise too. Really gets you to listen to the music that is everywhere, and not just in man-made instruments. I can’t help but make music even when I am just making a sandwich. I like to try out different types of percussion with things around the house.