Sculpting Sound: Theoretical and Practical Considerations for Designing and Building Sound Installations

The use of prepared musical instruments, or what I conceptually refer to as impossible musical objects, for composing music, is not a new phenomenon. In this article, I discuss the theoretical and practical considerations for designing and building modified instruments. I examine my past experiences and existing creative research practices and methods. My goal is to expand the concept of impossible musical objects by transitioning to a sculptural approach to musical composition. This approach will involve recontextualizing these objects as sound sculptures within complex structures, specifically sound installations. To produce modified musical instruments and transition to a broader approach where these objects are reimagined as constituent parts within sound installations and where the performance space has also been transformed, it is essential to understand their mechanics. Therefore, collaborating with musicians, luthiers, and instrument makers in the form of experimentation and test sessions becomes a fundamental part of the creative process. During these sessions, the effectiveness, practicality, portability, and invasiveness of the objects were evaluated. The results of these evaluations have been cataloged. In this article, I will include some examples and discuss their implications for current and future creative projects.