More Than Just Scratching

Electronic manipulation and sampling are not the only ways to bring new sounds into music. Case in point: Walter Kitundu and his instruments. They are Dr. Moreau-like creations, spliced turntable and string instruments. Hooked up to an amplifier, they bump all-new sounds. Dude is an instrument “builder in residence” for Kronos Quartet (them again?). Sound creation aside, the pieces are visual works of art in themselves. A number of his creations are instruments that exist as a form of functionless sculpture and spectacle, and they are much less interesting. At Kitundu’s Web site, you can listen to songs (“Emotional Infidel” is Culture System’s suggestion) made with his instruments and samples of individual instruments. Unfortunately, none are MP3s, and not all the instruments offer samples.