Musical Instrument Dreams

Through sound and visuals, Musical Instrument Dreams is an introspective journey based on the repeated dreams I have had for over thirty years of searching for musical instruments.  The dreams are interspersed among a multi-layering of musical sounds and an exploration of the violin.  Sound components include: the selected musical instrument dreams I have transcribed over the years.  Fragments of interviews and sounds from string players, musical instrument makers and the workings of musical instrument shops are arranged and triggered by the content of the dreams.  Musical Instrument Dreams is available as a sound installation for a gallery, a live theater performance and, as a radio broadcast.   

I experimented with musical sounds by playing and recording a variety of broken and out-of-tune instruments.  I played the strings of a piano.  I played a hammer dulcimer with a violin bow.  I recorded a violin in a racquetball court to catch that rich, reverberant sound.  I played a broken autoharp like a hammer dulcimer. The strings of the broken autoharp were wonderfully percussive like the broken head of a snare drum.

This breath of musical sounds led to the creation of musical compositions.  The musical variations entwine throughout the piece, as does a piano sound signature for when the listener “enters the dream state.”

An arrangement of musical instruments and the objects that I see in my dreams makes up the visual component of the installation.  I have collected over thirty musical instruments for the installation.  The participant will enter a gallery room in low light, like a dream, and seated before the instruments, hear the essence of Musical Instrument Dreams.