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• Local collective redefines the perception of traditional music

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Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center »
Address: 202 S. Broadway Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 344-8820
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The concept of music as an art is undisputed. A degree in the study at University grants a Bachelor of Arts, and its legacy is shaped in and around cultural entities. A less common examination, however, is the concept of music as a science — an exploration of sound waves and tones, physical structure and what does (or doesn’t) define an object as an instrument.

As explored on the official Urbana-Champaign Oddmusic web site, “Oddmusic U-C is building a library of unusual and usual musical instruments at the UC-IMC and facilitates events to connect experimental composition, microtonality, and instrument-building with radical social change. We insist upon ‘music’ as a type of ‘odd,’ desirable when it avoids the same old society telling itself what it already knows.”

In other words, Oddmusic looks to redefine and restructure the conventional notion of

music through the use of what some would consider “odd” means. Whether creating instrumentation through what is not considered as primarily an instrument (i.e. a saw, vegetables, plants), or exploring the limitless bounds of tonality and rhythm, Oddmusic is for the passionate fan — one that does not see a defining quality to the art.

Hosted by Andrew Heathwaite and Jacob Barton, Oddmusic holds weekly office hours on Sundays from 7:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m. in what they call the “Oddstrumentarium & Composing Living Room” at the Independent Media Center in Urbana. During these hours, interested parties are free to visit the office to work on individual or group projects, learn more about the “oddity” of music or simply hang out in a welcoming environment. Recent office hours have seen the collection of a range of instruments from an accordian to banjo, toy piano and keyboard. During office hours and beyond, projects have included fitting a bass drum with bamboo legs, and a bamboo stand for a set of 17-tone tubes. Images of these objects and further description can be found at http://www.oddmusicuc.wordpress.com.

The group also hosts a Microtonal Composition Study Group on Thursdays from 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. in room 21A at the IMC. Microtonals, referring to expansion beyond the standard 12-tone tuning of keyed or stringed instruments, looks to gather a following interested in composition with microtones, discussion about pitch and general inquest into the expansion of everyday tones.

Oddmusic officially celebrated their “grand opening” on Aug. 14, 2009 with a concert at the Independent Music Center. The evening included the concert, as well as the benefit of a question booth and open house of the instrumentorium. Oddmusic also asked that attendees come with an instrument of their own, to “perform sentences in lieu of applause.” The performance aspect of the evening included eight numbers of varying interest from vocals and viola, to a 22-tone guitar demonstration and piano.

Set aside your standards of both oddity and music with the local chapter of Oddmusic at the IMC. Open office hours are held on Sundays from 7:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m. in room 21A.