But the piece that jumped out at me most of all was Haroon Mirza’s ‘An_Infinito’ which got me thinking about the richness of its influence.
His work combines the typical dangerous elements of water and electricity to create a sound for the film clip he uses, but it says a lot more about the history of music and the objects we use.
For most of us our first ever music experience was probably shaking one of the many rattles we were given as a baby, or mixing hand clapping with nonsensical babbling. The idea of simply combining sounds with every day objects is music in its most primitive form. However music makers often go back to basics to shock and inspire people and constantly look for new and weird ways to do this.
A Darwinian would say that music began as a mating strategy as many birds produced music through bird song to attract mates. Others believe that pre-historic activities such as cracking nuts on walls created rhythms, which made workers more efficient.
But whatever you think was the very first music experience, it’s clear to see the people who have been truly inspired by primitive music making.
When Frank Zappa made his television debut on the Steve Allen show in 1963, he didn’t want that to be the only debut. He decided to bring a bike on the show and play a bicycle concerto.
As you can see he was quite openly mocked about this but Zappa fans quickly recognised his modern quirkiness and he was later awarded with the Grammy lifetime achievement award, inspired artists such as Alice Cooper and Primus, and released more than 60 albums.
One of the leading artists of Avant-Garde music, John Cage, produced one of the most controversial compositions of the 2oth century. He recorded environment noises, which appeared to be minutes of silence to critics, and people began questioning his talent. Many thought it was a philosophical masterpiece rather than a musical one.
He was a teacher of experimental composition and had an inquisitive love for aleatoric music, which meant leaving composition arrangement to chance.
In 1960, on the TV show I’ve Got A Secret, he performed the composition ‘Water Walk’ using sounds created from various objects including a bath and an electric mixer.
Once again it seemed absurd and comical to the audience but John went on to influence bands such as Sonic Youth, Stereolab and Aphex Twin.
Brian Eno, of Roxy Music fame, also delved into the innovative music world creating ambient music for sonic landscapes. The best example of this is the 1983 release of Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks.
He popularised the idea that composition could be arranged by chance and emphasised theory over practise. He later worked with David Bowie, John Cale and David Byrne.
In 1996 he helped make the Koan Generative system and was very interested in the way that music was ever changing and could be created by a system.
It allows a composer to control hundreds of sounds, which a computer improvises.
A basic example of generative music is a wind chime. The materials used determine the overall sound the wind chime produces.
The idea of Brian’s system was to create a unique piece of music every time by separating the artists from the creative process.
But these are examples of people whose whole musical career was based around innovation and there are in fact hundreds of thousands of music makers out there who delve once in a while.
Take Tilly and the wall who used tap dancing instead of drums, Gallows who used a the sound of a pig slaughter to cause effect, Rush used any type of wood they could find for percussion, Paul McCartney chewed carrots and celery on Super Furry Animals- Receptable For The Respectable, Pink Floyd used rubber bands and pencils instead of a bass, and Bjork used a man who shifted sand and stones with his feet.
Many noise rock acts including Mike Patton used the circuit bending process which emphasised spontaneity by using low voltage, battery powered guitar effects and children’s toys.
You don't need a Fender 60s Reverse Headstock Stratocaster to make good music, nor do you need a drumkit as big as Keith Moons. Making music is a creative process that allows for as much or as little eccentric absurdity as you like and if you can make demented and deranged sounds from it, all the better.
But the best thing about making music is that we can use any of the strange and wonderful objects we come across every day and create something original.
