instrument-a-day 2: rain simulator

Instrument-a-day 2: the Rain Simulator

Motor, battery, bead garland, and drum.

I made a failed whistle, followed by a squawky plastic double reed which didn’t seem worth calling an instrument-of-the-day. Then I bumped a bead garland off of the sewing table, and as it slowly drizzled over the edge, I had the idea for the rain simulator. It sounds like this. Video here.

instrument-a-day 1: the ten minute crapharp

I’m doing an instrument a day again this month! Here’s the first one.

Instrument-a-day 1: the Ten Minute Crapharp
Monofilament, wooden scraps and dowels, and staples.

It sounds something like this.

(mailing list archive) Instrument-a-day!

February is thing-a-day month! — over at <http://www.thing-a-day.com> they’re encouraging people to sign up and try to make or do something creative every day during February. Last year I ended up making a musical instrument every day– it was a fun challenge and I learned a lot! (results here: <http://www.moonmilk.com/milky/projects/sound-sculpture/instruments/instrument-a-day/>)

I’m going to do it again next month, and I’d like to encourage you to consider participating in thing-a-day too. You don’t have to sign up and post on thing-a-day.com, but last year I found that it was a good motivator and fun to trade comments with other participants, and I met some great people through thing-a-day too. If you go for it, whether on thing-a-day or on your own blog, please let me know, especially if you go for a sound & music theme.

I’m hoping to be able to put on a little concert with handmade instruments after the month is up– it’ll probably be March 4th in Brooklyn, so save the date if you can and I’ll have more details soon.

Other stuff:

My composition “Storyteller” for mechanical instruments will be performed– by mechanical instruments– at the NYC Electro-Acoustic Music Festival in early April. <http://www.nycemf.org/>

Last November I was unexpectedly invited to show some of my music machines at Youtube Live in San Francisco. It was a whirlwind of noise and motion and I’ll try to post some photos sometime soon.

Finally, I’m very excited to be working with Nick Yulman <http://nysoundworks.org/ on a permanent installation for the lobby of the newly-renovated Coney Island Museum! <http://www.coneyisland.com/> It’ll be a sound sculpture / music machine with a sideshow spirit. We hope to reveal it in the Spring!

(mailing list archive) Ignatz, Junk Guitars and more

Sent: 2008-09-24 20:18:35 (PST)
Subject: Ignatz, Junk Guitars and more

Hello all! Here’s another noisy update. Quick version: come to the DUMBO Art Festival this weekend, and sign up for the next junk guitar workshop October 14!

Happy news – Walter Kitundu, a musician, photographer, and builder of unique musical instruments, has been awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Grant. As a photographer and instrument-maker myself, I call this a good precedent! I got the chance to work with Walter Kitundu during my residency at the Exploratorium this Spring– his work is amazing.

As for me — my apartment is full of fumes because I’ve been painting stuff for my installation at this weekend’s DUMBO Art Festival in Brooklyn. The installation is named Ignatz (after Krazy Kat’s lover-nemesis); you’ll find it in the water directly under the Manhattan Bridge; and it’s all about bricks. Please come– there’s lots of great stuff going on at the festival! I’m gonna go see the dance group Kunst-Stoff at 9pm Friday at the Dumbo Dance Festival.

My junk guitar workshop at Etsy Labs in July went well — it sold out, people had fun, and you can see and hear the results in this video! So we’re doing it again on October 14th! Please spread the word to people who might be interested. You can sign up here.

Governors Island is still open and free to visit every weekend for another month or so, and you can see some of my photos of the Figment Festival in the Voyeur Photo Show in Governors Island’s Building 14– weekends until Oct 12. The free artist-built mini-golf course is still open too!

On November 15th, the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore is holding a day long Music and the Brain Salon, and they’ve asked me to put on a family workshop on homemade musical instruments. It’ll be fun and noisy!

My favorite weirdo arts group, Flux Factory, is holding a fund-raising auction on December 5th, and I’ve contributed a painting to the auction. Flux Factory is losing their building in Queens and looking for a new home, so save up all your money and spend it on art for a good cause! I’ve been involved with Flux Factory for less than three years but in that time they’ve mixed me up in all sorts of crazy projects and even taken me to Budapest! Please tell all your rich friends about them.

As always, if you want to stop receiving these emails, just drop me a line or visit moonmilk.com and click the mailing list link. Or you can get all your friends to sign up at that same link! And please let me know what you’re up to…

–Ranjit

Links for those of you who like your email in plain-text form:

Walter Kitundu – http://www.kitundu.com/

Kitundu’s page at MacArthur Foundation – http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.4537271/

DUMBO Art Festival – http://www.dumboartfestival.org//2008_festival.html

DUMBO Dance Festival – http://www.whitewavedance.com/#S26

Video of July’s junk guitar workshop – http://vimeo.com/1451693

Sign up for the October 14th junk guitar workshop – http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14660045

Visiting Governors Island – http://www.govisland.com/Visit_the_Island/directions.asp

Voyeur Photo Exhibit – http://www.figmentnyc.org/2008/projects/voyeur.html

American Visionary Art Museum – http://avam.org/

Flux Factory – http://www.fluxfactory.org

Flux Factory projects I’ve been involved in –

* http://www.fluxfactory.org/everything-must-go/

* http://www.fluxfactory.org/response-to-tatlins-monument-to-the-third-international-conceived-in-the-mood-of-ambivalence/

* http://www.fluxfactory.org/works-on-paper/

* http://www.fluxfactory.org/fluxbox

* http://www.fluxfactory.org/sziget

(mailing list archive) Junk guitars and other noise

Sent: 2008-07-17 19:06:58 (PST)
Subject: Junk guitars and other noise

Hello! Thanks to everyone who came out to the Figment Festival last month. Here’s some of my photos from the festival, and lots more at figmentnyc.org. I was happy that my little sound sculpture on the waterfront actually survived two thunderstorms and three days of salty waves!

It’s hot and sticky in New York, and that means it’s time to make electric guitars out of garbage. I’ll be teaching a workshop at Etsy Labs in Brooklyn on the evening of Wednesday July 30th in which we’ll wind our own guitar pickups and build junk guitars. If you’re interested, please sign up at etsylabs.etsy.com — space is limited. (See and hear some junk guitars over at moonmilk.com)

Coming up in a few months, I’ll have an installation in the 12th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival, September 26–28. My piece will be literally right under the Manhattan Bridge, at the little beach that’s mostly made of old bricks, and it’ll be kind of silly. Its name is Ignatz.

Next week I’ll be speaking at the Sketching in Hardware conference at the Rhode Island School of Design. Got any Providence restaurant recommendations?

More stuff you should see! My friend Jiyoun Lee, an amazing painter and illustrator, is in a group show opening tomorrow night (7/18, 7-9PM) at APW gallery, 195 Chrystie Street Suite 200. The show runs through the 26th. And Raylene Gorum’s showing her tape paintings of London, San Francisco, and New York on August 8th and 9th at Shetler Studios, details here.

I’m still scouting around for a December exhibition space for my Parsons students’ work, so please email me if you have any suggestions.

— Ranjit