The Musical Instruments
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The instruments in action
If you get hold of one of Soundwell's instruments, experiment for a while by yourself, and, if possible, then try to find someone to play together with. That's when you get the most out of it. On this page there are some pieces of music that illustrate some ways to approach the instruments as instruments for a common improvisation, to make your own music in the moment. Of course, every instrument can be used in the same way.Here (below by the red notes) is an example on how you can play together with many instruments (here two Snakes ) in an easy way. We call it a pulse play . You concentrate on finding a common pulse, to "lean into" as you play in a simple manner on the flutes. If you want, you can play solely on the beats, and go for listening more and more to the simple concerted unity that appears.
Another way to approach music from scratch is to use the music purely as a
language, with the only rule that you express yourself as directly as possible,
and get into a dialogue with another musician, reacting to what the other does.
It can be called a
sound dialogue
. You will find such short phrases communicating with each other in every kind
of music.
A sound dialogue with two Snakes
One way of making it stick together when you are some persons making music spontaneously is to pick up small rythmical patterns, that you repeat and vary for a while. In this way it is easier both to feel a steady pulse and to listen to each other and the musical whole.
With The Snake and The Stick , you can play together with any kind of instrument. Some tones are not the same as the "piano tones" . The flutes have a scale of so called natural tones, the most fundamental of all scales, actually. This means that some "bluesy" tones and chords appear here and there. Here is for example a small piece with a Snake and a recorder.
It is possible and fun to accompany the flutes or the xylophone
, playing chords on a piano or a guitar. Since The Snake doesn't require any
hands, a guitar player can, if he wants, accompany himself. You hold the flute
around your arm as you play. See the picture.
Snake and guitar simultaneously
With a little practice, you can get as many tones out of The Stick as you can with The Snake.
Here you can hear it together with a careful testing of a cello.
The Raft is excellent for a rhythmical improvisation, where you give yourself time to let the sound picture change slowly, while you listen deeper into the totality of the sounds. Here is a three minute little jam with two participants.
The Raft - rhythmical improvisation
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