Trimpin — Music and Thought: Pushing the Limits

What this episode covers

Pushing limits in music and thought is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious as we visit with Trimpin, a man who makes music from unusual instruments. He is the star of documentary film about his life’s work Trimpin, who uses a single word for his name received a Mac Arthur Genius Grant 1997. He asserts that he is trying to “go beyond human physical limitations to play instruments in such a way that no matter how complex the composition or the timing, it can be pushed over the limits.” The music, he said, starts with a sound in his head. He then transforms that notion for us to hear. The film Trimpin will be show at the Mendocino Film Festival the first weekend of June 2012, in Mendocino California. I spoke with Trimpin from his studio in Seattle, Washington, on May 19, 2012, and asked him to comment on the characterization where he is described as a mad-scientist, a magician, or possibly a tour guide. Rather than recommending a book, Trimpin said that he gave up reading sometime ago and replaced it with thinking. He’d “rather think than read," he said. Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below. Click here to download the podcast.

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