Using a revamped antique pedal organ, David Byrne, of Talking Heads fame, has transformed the empty Battery Maritime Building into a musical instrument that visitors can play. Playing the Building is a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument.
After hearing of this inventive musical creation, Robert decided to sample some sounds and employ them on his song, ‘Hunting Song’. The folks at www.DavidByrne.com have posted the song and more info about ‘Playing the Buliding‘ so be sure to check it out!