Pointless Orchestra
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Pointless Orchestra was an experimental music group based in Kent, Ohio, United States, which existed in one form or another between 1993 and 2005. They combined tunings and instruments from a wide array of cultures with improvisation and extended playing techniques. The members assembled these elements into several different types of music, including ominous film soundtracks, Asian court music, free improvisation, sound collages, and frantic drum jams. The group was named after member Mike Hovancsek's former label, Pointless Music, which had been founded several years before the group's establishment.
Always willing to take risks, the members of Pointless Orchestra used an extremely wide range of creative formats and ideas in their work. These included inviting guest musicians from around the world to sit in with them, incorporating avant-garde theatrical elements into their performances, collaborating with dancers, performing live film soundtracks, building their own one-of-a-kind instruments, performing live on radio broadcasts, collaborating with videographers, finding unique ways to incorporate language into their music, trying many different kinds of instruments/scales/techniques, and staging large-scale multimedia performance pieces.
Reviewers often found themselves spouting strange poetry in an attempt to describe the group's sound. In an article published in The Plain Dealer, Judy Bryan described the group this way: "If music is language, the musicians of Pointless Orchestra speak in tongues." Laura Putre in Cleveland Scene described them as "decidedly from the John Cage school, in which the sound of a drop of water can fuel an atonal symphony. The orchestrations on Pointless's debut CD Approaching Totality are hushed yet disquieting, like distant car crashes or a springtime chorus of irradiated frogs." Jenai Cutcher in Columbus Alive stated "Pointless Orchestra and its collaborators construct a performance that appeals to all five senses. You hear the music and see the funky instruments. Improvisational dancing may further stimulate a physical or kinesthetic response and appeal to your sense of touch, as Anderson pours beet juice over her skin and uses movement to steer it into certain patterns." Dominique Chevant in Amazing Sounds states, "Pointless Orchestra draw with energetic brush-strokes a stage to let imagination run free towards life-and-death situations. The instrumentation and the sonic effects maintain a disquieting tone throughout the album, contributing a series of undescribable sensations for the listener."
The group's music has been used in films by Robert Banks, Alfred Eaker, and Aron Campisano.
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[edit] Members
The line-up of Pointless Orchestra was always changing but the core members were:
- Mike Hovancsek (koto, gu zheng, sitar, guitar, tambura, waterphone, percussion, etc.)
- David Badagnani (oboe, english horn, sheng, saw ou, khaen, guitar, banjo, etc.) and
- Mark Allender (viola da gamba, sanxian, double bass, throat singing, percussion, etc.)
Other members included Mike Foster (tuba, percussion) and Phil Kester (percussion).
[edit] Collaborations
Pointless Orchestra recorded or collaborated in live performance with several influential musicians, including Halim El-Dabh, Jin Hi Kim, Joseph Celli, Z'EV, Amy Denio and Illusion of Safety.
[edit] Disbanded
Pointless Orchestra disbanded in February 2005, leaving behind an extensive collection of strange recordings that are currently floating around the internet for anyone who cares to hear them.
[edit] Discography
- 1994 Endless 1 (Manifold)
- 1997 - Lives: A Pointless Night Out (Without Fear)
- 1998 - Approaching Totality (Without Fear)
- 1999 - Enhanced Gravity (CD-ROM, Yucca Tree Records)
[edit] References
- Bryan, Judy (1995). "Dissonance orchestra makes its point." The Plain Dealer, October 27, 1995.
- Cutcher, Jenai (2000). "Stained-glass nudes, beet juice, and an unexpected Pointless Orchestra." Columbus Alive, October 19, 2000
- Putre, [Laura] (1998). "A Pointless Exercise." Scene, November 19-25, 1998.
[edit] External links
- Pointless Orchestra on MySpace
- Plain Dealer article about Pointless Orchestra
- Cleveland Scene article about Pointless Orchestra
- Columbus Alive article about Pointless Orchestra
- Amazing Sounds article about Pointless Orchestra
- Allmusic review of Pointless Orchestra
- Exquisite Corpse review of Pointless Orchestra
- Pointless Orchestra in the soundtrack for the feature film The Master Plan
