- Playing
- Neil Feather's Musical Chop Shop
- From
- Aaron Henkin
Neil Feather is a radio story waiting to happen. For the past twenty years, this self-professed Baltimore "sound mechanic" has been building an orchestra of completely original instruments in his basement workshop. They're musical Frankenstein monsters with names like "The Apex Rotozither" and "The Melocipede," part instrument and part household appliance.
This story is worth a listen, if only for the opportunity to hear what it sounds like when a vibrating erotic device is spun on a film projector flywheel that's wired into a customized amplifier.
Vavoom!
This piece is slated to air 11-5-04 on WYPR's local arts program, The Signal.
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Piece Description
Neil Feather is a radio story waiting to happen. For the past twenty years, this self-professed Baltimore "sound mechanic" has been building an orchestra of completely original instruments in his basement workshop. They're musical Frankenstein monsters with names like "The Apex Rotozither" and "The Melocipede," part instrument and part household appliance. This story is worth a listen, if only for the opportunity to hear what it sounds like when a vibrating erotic device is spun on a film projector flywheel that's wired into a customized amplifier. Vavoom! This piece is slated to air 11-5-04 on WYPR's local arts program, The Signal.
4 Comments
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Review of Neil Feather's Musical Chop ShopFor those of us that grew up loviing sound as much as music, this overview of Neil Feather's sonic wildness is a great insight on how a person becomes an experimental musician. As this type of music becomes more mainstream (through its use in film scoring, installation pieces and other emotional environments), it is useful to hear the creation in action. Often, it is difficult to know where to start in this genre. This piece offers a personal view of Feather's creation process, and provides an entre into an otherwise difficult world. |
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Review of Neil Feather's Musical Chop ShopThis profile of "sound mechanic" Neil Feather works neatly on different levels for different types of listeners - the sound art aficionado, the uninitiated, even one who finds this kind of work insufferable. Like myself, I'm loathe to admit. That's why I think this piece is so well done. Ask me to listen to someone who thinks a pile driver makes a "cool sound" and I'd run in the opposite direction. But I was intrigued by Feather as I was lured gently into his world of sometimes very ungentle sound. The musical atmosphere seemed to underline the theories and descriptions and I could almost visualize his studio and strange instruments. I might never want to attend one of Feather's concerts (unlike him I was traumatized by a Captain Beefheart gig at an impressionable age) but I listened to this piece twice in one sitting without flinching. A perfect,off-beat piece for any culture or music (yes, even music) program. |
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Gary Marcus
Posted on March 12, 2005 at 05:28 AM | Permalink
Review of Neil Feather's Musical Chop Shop
Well-crafted look at eccentric Baltimore sound artist Neil Feather. Two for the price of one: a portrait of a quirky but articulate inventor and a meditation on the nature of music.