The last few years I have run a stall at Mossvale Park for the annual music festival run by the Lyrebird Arts Council……. this year I set up a Tee Pee full of small marimbas and hang a group of tuned scrap metal from the spreading Cork Oak tree. I made hammers from sections of walnut branch, with escalator rubber pads. People would begin by looking slightly bemused, but once they began to play, delight and fascination took over.
The following recording was made on one of the wheels, striking the spokes, centre and rim.
This time I am playing a roller which in a former life was part of the conveyor belt assembly dragging brown coal out of the La Trobe valley. A section was removed from the middle to create two tones.
Now a mixed recording of the tuned pipes. Water and gas pipes resonate well, as does copper and aluminium.
As the afternoon wore on, general mayhem broke out. One kid was taking a 30 meter run up. Most of hammers were broken, one in half. The sound was outrageous. People discovered that the range of tone and effect that could be found in what appeared to be junk can be fascinating.
This final recording is some of the notes found in a curved piece of steel pipe.
