Joe Jones - Xylophone (?, 2004)

Another glorious mechanized symphony from the maestro Joe Jones, this time scored for xylophone alone and captured in a 1976 performance. Over its thirty-one minutes, the dizzying chimes wind up and down, sometimes hanging briefly on a note but rarely settling into much of a pattern beyond that up and down. Once accustomed to the automatons, I find myself listening more to the spaces in between, honing in especially on a bumping that may be accidental or might even be an unsteady drum. Its timing against the steady ringing of the xylophone cannot help but bear similarity to the Javanese kendhang, though I'm sure I am making a bit more out of what's there. The accompanying diagram sheds some great insight into how Jones constructed his instruments and why they played the way they did.



Xylophone

Joe Jones - Meditations 18.2 (Slowscan, 2001)

At the risk of utter cheese, Joe Jones could have made a big name for himself with the dawning of the Green Movement, had he only lived to see the day. As early as 1962, he was crafting the sort of solar-powered musical automatons heard on this November 1989 recording from Middleburg, Holland. His solar orchestras are well-versed in the playing of drums, zithers, xylophones, and various bells and chimes. The often cacophonous performances begin with a steady drum pulse before ascending into what could easily be mistaken for a Balinese gamelan in a poorly synchronized clock shop. The solar component enabled Jones to structure day long concerts, beginning as the sun rose and slowly coming to a halt as the sun set. Xebec Sound Arts conducted an entertaining if brief interview with Jones which you can find here.

While you read it, you can also listen.