I feel like I should resurrect the Institute of Advanced Mad Science.
A couple years ago, I’d frivolously fill that in on any e-mail subscription form or on-line survey that had a blank for “Business”. A friend of mine did a similar thing, listing “Interstellar Freight” as a company. I don’t know if he’s still doing so.
Then I started to get stuff in the mail, addressed to the Institute…
The software catalogs were understandable, seeing as how it was something that started on-line, but then I started to get stuff for pens, business cards, and letterhead. Eventually I decided to drop it and the mailings tapered off. They halted pretty much completely after I moved, but they still pop up every so often.
The thing that’s got me thinking about starting it all up again is over at Create Digital Music. It’s a Pyrophone.
For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it’s something similar to a pipe organ or caliope. Except that instead of using compressed air or steam to produce sound, it uses plumes of flaming propane.
It looks amazing. And it has a truly unique sound. This is a musical instrument that really deserves greater recognition. Preferably from a safe distance.
And it got me thinking: Where on Earth could someone go to get a degree in Pyrophone performance? This is an instrument whose output is measured in both decibels and BTU! It’s amazingly dangerous to listen to, let alone play. Anyone studying this as a serious musical instrument would have to be completely… mad…
So. The concert Pyrophone installed in the auditorium is obviously going to have to be one of the biggest selling points of the music department at the Institute…