photo: Jamie Manser
Originally published in the April 2011 issue of Zocalo Magazine.
From the dawn of humankind, music has been tightly woven into our species’ history. Might it even be stamped into our DNA?
Intentional sounds are certainly created by our planet’s other inhabitants – from birds, cetaceans, cicadas, lizards, frogs, et al. It’s up for debate if those creatures are creating music.
Dated examples of early Homo sapiens deliberately creating music are contested archeologically, but if the baseline is manipulation of found objects – purposeful beats are a pre-historic tradition.
A local example of musicians carrying on the ancient tradition of utilizing found objects for tonal expression is Glenn Weyant and Scott Kerr, who comprise the experimental duo Bike-A-Stra.
Weyant is a sound sculptor, composer, instrument builder and adjunct UA journalism professor. Kerr is a jazz musician, electronics pioneer, inventor, session musician and jack of all trades. Both are mellow, intelligent and approachable fellows who are committed to sharing their musical experimentations for others to expand upon.
Starting April 30, the two will be leading five weekly Saturday workshops – from noon to 4pm through May 28 – on re-fashioning bike parts into instruments. It costs a mere $30.
Kerr elucidates, “There is a lot of stuff missing in the budgets of normal education; there’s a loss of ‘compass arts’ – like shop, drafting and music. What we’re teaching encompasses a lot of what’s gone in local schools; the mechanical things, the music, the theatrical arts.”
The workshops are in collaboration with and will be at BICAS (Bicycle Inter-Community Action & Salvage), 44 W. 6th St.; inspired by and tying in with the non-profit’s mission to repurpose bicycle parts.
“We have a continuous supply of parts and materials that we can’t use for bicycles anymore,” explains Casey Wollschlaeger, BICAS’ arts and outreach coordinator. “The whole theory behind this shop is being able to recycle and reuse materials.
“It’s a great space for thinking outside the box, being creative and utilizing the resources on hand. It’s a do-it-yourself (DIY) mentality,” Wollschlaeger says. “That’s what we are about doing – making instruments, making art and making music – using things we need to get rid of and don’t want to go to the landfill.”
Weyant stresses that the workshops are geared toward providing students creative leeway. “My stuff has always been way out in the abyss. With the workshops, they can play the weird stuff or if they want to build something with really steady rhythms to it or world music – whatever their influences are – they’re welcome to it.”
Kerr is excited about the DIY aspects of the workshops, and will be contributing his electronics background by providing hand-made amps for the students to keep. Students will also keep the instruments they build, along with a recording of the final workshop performance on May 28.
Interested in signing up? Call BICAS at 628-7950. Also visit BICAS.org and BikeAStra.com.
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