Do You Want to Play Music With a Jet Engine?

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – APR. 2, 2013 Kunal Dovedy, a San Francisco entrepreneur, artist, and musician, launched a Kickstarter campaign today to raise $8000 in 14 days to support “The Turbinophone”, a Burning Man art installation that transforms a turbojet engine into an interactive musical instrument, playable by the participants of Burning Man.

Kunal has been gifted the compressor section of a General Electric J79/LM1500 Turbojet engine.  He was inspired to create this piece when he saw a turbine mechanic drop a screw into an engine on his YouTube channel. He then realized that this experience should be presented to the creative people who attend Burning Man, in order to help inspire musical expression using unique and unconventional methods.

The 2013 Burning Man art theme is Cargo Cult, which suggests a commentary on the occurrence of cargo cults where indigenous tribes worship the military technology of advanced civilizations that they interact with, as seen in the John Frum Movement, which is still active today. “The Turbinophone” suggests that an instrument of military technology can be repurposed into an instrument of musical technology, turning those who interact with it into “believers” of the supernatural musical power it possesses.

“The Turbinophone” will grant each participant the power to speak the language of music, even if they have never been trained in musicianship to any capacity, and through this unexpected expression, they will have begun their journey towards their understanding and expression of music. Accomplished bass player, Victor Wooten, explains in his TED Talk that in order to master music, one must speak it as a language, and play with others often. “The Turbinophone” offers that possibility to anyone who is curious, regardless of his or her musical skills or inclinations.

The installation of “The Turbinophone” will present a one-of-a-kind experience to the 50,000+ participants of Burning Man, inspiring musical creativity and changing our perspectives of the technology we build.

You can support the Turbinophone right now by going to its Kickstarter.