Iner Souster and the Experimental Instruments He Lives With

My new web site

2010-01-05T11:53:00.004-05:00

My partner in crime did the nicest thing for me this holiday season. She went out and got me my very own web site and domain name. I feel so grown up and responsible. Now all of my blogs can be put together in one none confusing place. I will eventually phasing the blogs out, but you can still see all of them for now.
If you are interested please go to www.inersouster.ca
I would love to hear what you have to say about it.

cheers
Iner Souster

The Little Noise Wheel

2009-09-01T08:45:00.006-04:00

So I don't know how many people are aware of this, but a few months ago I open my own studio right here in the heart of Parkdale. Well maybe not the heart, but just to the left of that. In the process of opening I found a surprisingly large amount of undocumented projects. A few Junkstruments which I will be posting over the next few weeks. A fair number of Fauxbots that I have already started posting on their page, Jars and jars of Swirls, a disturbingly large amount of Random Acts Of Art. So many that I don't even know where to start. There were even three Metal Dresses just waiting to be built into free standing forms. Don't even get me started on what I am going to do with the Spaceroom.

This was a Junkstrument I built for a play called Petrichor. My job in the play was instruments and set design along with some foley work. I will be posting all of the foley junkstruments soon.
This was built from my nephews old bike, a lovely brass candy dish, the cast metal bass of a floor lamp, and high tension steel strip that goes thwap. Very simple to build, dosen't do very much aside from thwapping, but does that thwapping well.

Keep that thwapper thwapping.

Banjolele

2009-08-24T18:14:00.010-04:00

A new hybrid I built for the relaunching of a play called Reesor. Unfortunately the Ragga can only be played by David William McEathron and he was unavalible for thos production. I will be filling the roll and decided something simple would be best. Basicly the banjo that was donated by The Kensignton Hillbillies and the neck was kicking around from and old busted ukulele I had lying around. In this image you can see Andrew Penner and how he is when doing musical direction for a play.

Some New Fauxbots

2009-08-12T11:23:00.003-04:00

Hey ya'll. I have posted a bunch of new Fauxbot. Check them out
One day I will teach them how the play the Junkstruments

New street sweeper tine thumb piano

2009-07-21T11:02:00.001-04:00

New rake tine thumb piano

2009-07-20T11:00:00.001-04:00

City News Article

2009-06-30T11:05:00.003-04:00

Here is a great article about my new place.
citynews.ca
Thanks Mr. Talbot

2009-06-02T10:16:00.003-04:00

I made a top ten strangest musical instruments list.
Right on.
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-strangest-musical-instruments.php

The Big Ugly 2

2009-04-03T18:27:00.001-04:00

Single String Drum Bass

2009-04-02T18:58:00.001-04:00

Drum Bass

2009-04-02T18:17:00.000-04:00

Street Sweeper Thumb Piano

2009-04-01T19:30:00.001-04:00

Small Hacksaw Blade Thumb Piano

2009-04-01T18:56:00.000-04:00

Rake Tine Thumb Piano

2009-04-01T18:54:00.000-04:00

Jigsaw Blade Thumb Piano

2009-04-01T18:52:00.000-04:00

Wooden Single Strings

2009-03-31T19:33:00.002-04:00

The New Kick Chime

2009-03-30T18:37:00.000-04:00

Underwoods Bell Stage One

2008-09-16T14:59:00.007-04:00

Metal Rico Rico's

2008-09-15T15:21:00.003-04:00

Pelee

2008-08-13T14:53:00.001-04:00

The album will be in stores September 16

2008-08-08T17:04:00.000-04:00

About to release their fourth album, Calling Out (2008), the FemBots have set off in yet another direction while in many ways returning to their beginnings. Born out of improvisation and experimentation, Calling Out sees the FemBots once more stretching themselves musically to produce an album that is daring yet accessible.

The FemBots began as a home recording project of Dave MacKinnon and Brian Poirier and their debut, Mucho Cuidado (2000), featured songs written and performed on power tools, toys and broken down thrift store instruments. The duo quickly carved a unique space in the Toronto music scene bringing their post-industrial folk songs to the stage using tape loops and reel-to-reel machines mixed with often frantic live performances.

Their critically acclaimed second release, Small Town Murder Scene (2003), adopted a more atmospheric approach with traditional instrumentation and soulful laments. The third FemBots record, The City (2005), built on this earlier work while taking it up several notches with banging piano chords, catchy choruses, soulful vocals, swinging guitars, woven strings and horns. The City – that landed on several top ten lists for 2005 – pushed the stark black and white vision of their earlier albums into full technicolor.

The FemBots originally envisioned their fourth album Calling Out (2008), as an entire album using an assortment of junkstruments, musical instruments created from garbage by artist Iner Souster. Eight months into the project it became clear that the junkstruments were simply too unpredictable and too difficult to work with to sustain an entire album. Rather than scraping the project entirely, the FemBots used the junkstrument instrumentals they had recorded as rhythm tracks, the rock and roll chassis that the rest of the songs are built on.

Calling Out also marks another departure for the FemBots. This is the first time Dave MacKinnon and Brian Poirier have collaborated with other musicians during every stage of the writing and recording process. In the past MacKinnon and Poirier wrote the songs, then brought in other musicians to fill out the arrangements. With Calling Out the songs were built up from improvisations with Iner Souster and drummer Nathan Lawr.

The result is a collection of pop and rock song built on a foundation of odd sounding home made instruments, resulting in their most straightforward and strangest record to date.

The FemBots have drawn comparisons to Califone, My Morning Jacket, Latin Playboys and Wilco but their sound is not easily categorized. Influenced by a wide range of music - from Rock ‘n Roll, Blues, Soul, Country, and Folk - they continue their genre bending approach, honing a new style from the old. With each new album the FemBots transform in ways unforeseen, yet strangely familiar.

The Chime Wheel

2008-06-25T11:50:00.003-04:00

The Microphone of Pasts Future

2008-04-01T12:32:00.017-04:00

This is number two in the new microphone department, and slightly more authentic in appearance then the Funnel Mic. I built this for a secret project that I alluded to in my last blog posting based on images I found online of microphones from around 1880 to 1920.

I used an old 510 microphone I bought years ago for about ten dollars. It had been sitting in a metal box in the spaceroom almost immediately after I purchased it so I really didn’t feel bad about ripping it out of its casing. The base of the microphone is from one of the many old useless brass instruments I also have laying around the spaceroom. So in a way I am clearing out the old junk and making new and wonderful junk in the process. Sometimes I find this to be a good exercise when the creative juices aren’t flowing as well as I would like. This goes for the strainer on the back of the microphone as well. For years I have been collecting old kitchen utensils and it hasn’t been until recently that I have discovered a use for them. The face plate was actually from an old busted microphone I took apart years ago to use the body for one of my Fauxbots. If only I knew then what I know now, but I guess it’s always better could regret something you have done, then something you haven’t …Feel free to fill in the next line. There is an output jack and an on/off switch that were salvaged from one of the many broken electronics that get sent my way. As far as the two metal rings that round the face of the microphone I have no idea where they came from, sometimes the spaceroom just gives me gifts.

Again, much like the Funnel Mic I have no idea if this will work in a live setting. Years ago I had the brilliant idea of getting rid of both my amps. I think it one of those I suck at music moments why do I want this stuff taking up space in the spaceroom. If somebody knows what I was thinking please let me know.

Over and out.

The Funnel Mic

2008-03-26T23:40:00.009-04:00

This is the year that I have decided to go back to working with a few electronics in my instruments. After learning as much as I have in the ongoing process of recording an album in the studio I have now decided to turn my attention to live performance. A few months ago I was contacted by some friends who asked me if I would like to be part of a new project. At this time I don’t want to go into the details of this project mainly because none of us are sure what exactly those details are. All I can tell you is that it involves the turn of the last century, some thespians, an animator, and my instruments.

I am experimenting with a few different microphone configurations using all the old mics I have picked up over the years. None of them are exceptional great so tearing them apart isn’t really a big deal for me. Some have been taken out of telephones, kid’s toys, or crappy musical instruments made of plastic that have all but died under my curious tampering.

I built the funnel Mic using parts from a few old brass horns I had scattered about, and some hand made aluminum swirls. The microphone is mounted fairly close to the mouth of the horn and I am hoping it will be good for picking up stringed instruments. Testing has yet to be done on any large scale. One of the side effects was the way the mic inside picked up the sound of the swirls. It is jammed into the horn as far as it will go, touching the metal a full 360 degrees. It now seems to be acting much like a contact mic would. My only fear is that it may feedback easily at very low levels.

Some time after the Funnel Mic was finished I got the idea of building a similar piece, but this time placing a much smaller microphone at the other end of the horn in the hopes of creating a more tinny sound. Perhaps they could be used in conjunction with one another.

When I build it I will let you know.

Iner

The Return of the Alien Bell Monster

2008-03-03T12:08:00.009-05:00

I am still very much on a percussive kick lately. I keep going through the spaceroom finding all these different metal bowls, cups, and bells that I have been collecting from my travels throughout Canada and the United States. I am trying to use them all up do to the fact that they are somewhat bulky and difficult to store. Real estate in the spaceroom is hard to come by on a good day, so I figured it best that I get these things out of the room and out of my head.

I built this instrument as part of an ongoing project I have been working

on with my good friends the Fembots. For those of you that don’t know, we have been working on an album now for quite

some time. Over this period of time I have learn many things about the construction of Junkstruments, and the convenience of transporting these instruments.

Some of the materials in this instrument include a kettle straight from our stove top, candle holders, metal lids, serving bowls, drink coasters, disk breaks, and of coarse a had to throw in a few salad bowls.