ABSTRACT
Within improvised experimental music the need to define a musical instrument can be superseded by acts of bespoke, and oĞen temporary, uses of any sounding object. The performer’s perspective of a musical instrument is also effectively changed from the traditional role of being a predetermined thing that realizes a musical language outside or indifferent to its self, to being an act that explores an object for its inherent sonic properties. This exploratory process seeks to create artistic statements that are responsive to the emerging sonic properties of an adopted or appropriated sounding object. The combination of artistic approach and performer activities that underpin this practice are considered here as the notion of instrumentalizing.
