Aaron gets a nice selection of ordinary folks to react to some challenging "music" created by composer and improviser John Bernt. Over the course of three pieces the subjects in general move from expressing confusion and apprehension to thinking a bit deeper about and almost accepting what they're hearing. To be fair, the first piece the subjects hear is rather obtuse, and the last of the three the most traditionally musical, although in a Steve Reich sort of way. To add balance after the subjects' reactions, Aaron injects interview clips of Bernt as he explains what is actually going on in each piece, and we the audience find that he's doing some experimenting of his own on his musicians and on us.

It would be interesting to find new guinea pigs for this Rorschach test and administer the three pieces in reverse order -- would their reactions be the same, or would they become more agitated and/or confused as the audio becomes more abstract? As always, Aaron puts a very professional touch on music/arts from the margins and attacks it creatively and unapologetically; he stands in the middle and moderates like a good journalist would.

"A Radio Rorschach Test" is a creative piece of radio. I enjoyed the counterpoint between the reporter's authoratative tone and the tongue-in-cheek subject matter. The test "subjects" represented a diverse population, which added to the overall value of the piece. Good fun!

Sara Robinson
Host/Producer
Conscious Creating: the art of transformation