Aside from being in primary school and stretching some elastic bands over a tissue box, have you ever tried to make a musical instrument from scratch before? Have you ever tried to invent an entirely new one using the power of thought, and then turn that invention into a physical thing that you can play with your hands? It sounds like something that would only take place on Tatooine’s answer to Blue Peter, but in fact it’s exactly what happened a few weekends ago with YGN initiative Buzz Jam, which got Don Broco, TĀLĀ and The Beach together with emerging artists and computer programmers to spend the weekend creating a their own custom instrument.
Having never met in person before, six teams made up of coders, managers and artists spent 32 hours making things such as: a glove that can drum, touch-sensitive stools that play synth, drum or guitar samples when you sit on them (bum pads, anyone?), and an instrument that makes sound by registering body movement. Turning their creative energy into a reality, each artist played their instrument for the first time on stage at Red Bull Studios.
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For example, Them & Us made something which is technically referred to as a “chiptune guitar” but for the purposes of this article we’ll call a Gameboy/Rock Axe hybrid:
And My Panda Shall Fly came up with ‘The Loose Loop’, which is apparently a soundboard with motion sensors that trigger rhythms and sequences based on what he feeds into it. In basic bitch terms that means: it’s looping, but not as you know it. It also creates visuals to compliment the music:
YGN presents Buzz Jam is a partnership with Sony Music UK, We Make Awesome Sh, WMA, and Red Bull Studios, and supported by funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
