It’s nice to know that in these days of high tech digital music, you can still create sound with something as simple as marbles and kitchen mixing bowls. That’s what Sxip Shirey has done in a fascinating video called Sxip Shirey Playing Bowls with Red Marbles. Think La Monte Young, Tibetan Singing Bowls and the Plate Spinners from the old Ed Sullivan Show. As fascinating to watch as to hear. Sxip (pronounced Skip) is apparently a performance artist who has a bunch of other quirky videos on YouTube some more watchable/viewable than others. Check out 2 seconds of Sxip Shirey in Portland, Oregon 10-15-06 and you’ll know what I mean.
Comment posted by
at 3/27/2007 10:02:52 AM
John, Klaus Wiese, who was once listed as a member of Popul Vuh (he wasn’t, just a friend of Florian Fricke,) has taken this technique as “far out” as it can go, and has been doing so over the course of 20 years and over 40 CDs. Klaus wets his finger and spins it around the bowls, getting a clearer harmonic than one will get from clanging marbles (not that I am minimizing the value of Sxip Shirey contributions. ) Klaus often has over 50 bolws “singing” at one time, and those sounds are looped as well, rendering a very full sound that I don’t hear with Sxip’s music Although many of his best records also feature synths, zither, tamboura, etc., classics like “Neptune,” “Space” and “Uranus” are just bowls. This is gorgeous and intoxicating music.