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Artificial Inhabitants: Arbrasson Workshop
November 3, 2024 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm UTC-5

Workshop Registration: GiveLively
Tickets: $250
*Need-based and sliding-scale tickets available
In this workshop, Daniel Fishkin will provide a short history lesson and demonstration of the Arbrasson, a unique rubbed wooden idiophone from France. Workshop participants will also learn the fundamentals of building their own arbrassons using simple handtools such as a Ryoba saw and a Kanna.
Friction idiophones are distinct in the history of musical inventions. Unlike string instruments, which are popular everywhere from past to present, friction idiophones are uncommon, but are always remarkable in their sonic character. The Livika is one such curious case. Hailing from New Ireland, the Livika is a carved log consisting of three “tongues” that is rubbed by moistened palms moistened to produce a piercing, loud cry. Its name refers to birdcalls, and it was played at Malagan funeral ceremonies. Curator Eric Kjellgren writes, the Livika is “both a first of its type and a revolutionary design” Unlike the jaw harp, which is found all around the world, the Livika is singular to Melanesia—there are no other world instruments like it. Yet it is considered “extinguished” by the field: there are no practicing indigenous players, and only about 50 known instruments exist in museums around the world.
The Livika was recently reincarnated: José Le Piez, a sculptor based in France, created the “arbrasson” in 1992—carving notches into polished logs, he crafts wild polyphonic sculptures that resonate when rubbed. Le Piez discovered the concept accidentally—he did not know the Livika. Yet his instruments extend the Livika, featuring more notes, and wider tonal range. In Summer 2023, Fishkin met Le Piez in his studio in Bordeaux, where they began an international partnership as instrument builders, sharing designs and keeping the future of the Arbrasson burning bright.
Workshop Leader Bio
Daniel Fishkin’s ears are ringing. He has performed as a soloist on modular synthesizer with the American Symphony Orchestra, developed sound installations in abandoned church sanctuaries, and played innumerable basement punk shows. Daniel’s lifework investigating the aesthetics of hearing damage has received international press; as an ally in the search for a cure, he has been awarded the title of “tinnitus ambassador” by the Deutsche Tinnitus-Stiftung. He is the only luthier that studied with Hans Reichel, the inventor of the daxophone, a thin hardwood strip played with a bow which sounds somewhere between a badger and a cello. Daniel’s instruments have traveled the world, and are played by musicians in Canada, USA, Norway, Germany, France, Japan, Denmark, Kazakhstan, and Australia. In 2015, Daniel formed The Daxophone Consort, the USA’s only ensemble dedicated to realizing new compositions and performances with this instrument. In 2016, Daniel was awarded a Project Grant from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage to stage his lifework Composing the Tinnitus Suites on a large scale. In 2022, Daniel was awarded the P.I.G. prize from the Art Foundation of Danish designer Henrik Vibskov. Daniel received his MA in Music Composition from Wesleyan University and studied privately with composer Maryanne Amacher and with multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart. He has taught seminars on instrument design and electronic music at Bard College and the Cooper Union. He is currently a PhD Candidate in Composition and Computer Music at the University of Virginia.