ENTRY # 9: Diego Stocco - Music From A Tree

Browsing some sound blogs, I came across “Music from a tree”. Does not sound very unusual maybe to some people. Just about half of all musical instruments ever made were carved from wood. In fact, most instruments, if not metal, are traditionally made from wood, animal skins and hair and gourds. Many of the attributes of a musical instrument’s signature sound are because of the material it’s made from and how the sound resonance through it. Different woods resonate differently, as well the sound from a hollow instrument vs. a solid one. In the last hundred years or so, people have easily improvised instruments like the jug bass (metal washing jug with a broom handle and string) and have played on them. But this man, Diego Stocco, really takes the experiment a step further conducts an experiment where he decides to create musical sounds from a tree. Using contact microphones, Diego experiments ways to produce sounds. Sometimes he makes tapping sounds, sometimes bowing twigs with a violin bow. He then layers them in a loop until a plethora of woodsy organic sounds of orchestrated your ear drums! Aside from personal interests in sound recording and field recording with ambient noises, I thought I was able to relate to the thought of exploring spaces. The entire thing is a creative experiment, and if you function visually or by hearing, this is an exercise of the imagination worth conducting. In the past I have explored with ideas such as recording the sound of my keys hitting the floor and then slowing it down and adding delay or running a gunshot backwards. The possibilities were endless, and it is good to see videos of people like Diego who are pursuing their curiosities.