One OU student creates original instruments to produce new sounds.
As a music composition student, Turner Matthews entered the end of his sophomore year exploring new sounds — including cutting a set of galvanized pipes to create new music.
Now a fifth-year senior, Matthews has created so many instruments it’s difficult to keep track of all he’s completed.
“My house is taken over by instruments which I am completely happy with,” Matthews said. “It doesn’t bother me at all. It really doesn’t. I have drum sets, guitars, these propane tank things and a robot in my living room.”
After experimenting with the chimes of galvanized pipes, the new sounds made him want to continue writing and creating.
“The process has been kind of outstanding to watch happen from the beginning to the end because he’s good at it now,” said Jake Schlaerth, a senior studying percussion performance and music composition.
Schlaerth and Matthews have been collaborating on compositions for three years. Schlaerth focuses on electronic composition and Matthews on acoustic.
The pair is now building a new robotic instrument based on the hurdy-gurdy, a stringed instrument based on rotation of a wheel, Schlaerth said.
When the wheel rotates it rubs against strings to create music.
Matthews said the new instrument involves 23 motors and 23 strings to create the sound, but the pair is programming the instrument with a computer so a keyboard can control the sounds.
Matthews said the new instrument breaks into a new realm of creation, which involves the pair meeting with electrical engineers to better understand how the instrument can be improved.
“You can play this instrument expressively,” Matthews said. “It’s robotic in that what makes the sound activate is based off of robotics, but the human elements is important and the strings will be amplified with different guitar and bass pickups so you can run effects through them.”
After the instrument is complete, the pair composes for it. In that process, they sometimes find new ways to play the instrument.
“Collaboration is pretty hard in the raw creative sense like that. We’ll butt heads and something good will come out of it for sure,” Schlaerth said.
Matthews said he uses common supplies to create instruments such as propane tanks, welding steel, electrical medal tubing and whirly tubes. He said he tends to think on a large scale but has to remain realistic with his goals so the instrument is as originally envisioned.
“I get pretty dang close and I’ve never been unhappy with any instrument,” Matthews said. “I’ve always been super pleased. … I haven’t had a complete failure, at least not yet.”
There is a new technique for every instrument, but Matthews said he enjoys seeing people take on the challenge of playing one of his instruments.
“Another reason why I make instruments is seeing other people’s interactions with them,” Matthews said. “Every performer is different and having their artistic style put on instruments I make, that is super cool.”
Matthews is applying to graduate schools, which he said are sometimes skeptical of his choice to continue creating instruments.
His professors at OU were very supportive, he added.
“The performance on (his new instrument) was very theatrical and created a very unusual and interesting sound,” said Mark Phillips, distinguished professor of music composition and electronic music.
Now that Matthews has created many different instruments and composed a piece on each of them, he said he wants to return to his creations and explore what they can do.
“10 minutes is not enough to say what can be said with this instrument,” Matthews said.
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