Björgvin Tómasson’s Gameleste

What happens when you try to combine a gamelan with a celeste?  It's never been done before, so who knows?

As Björgvin Tómasson can tell you, what you get is a "gameleste".  This combination makes it a hybrid, something new under the sun.  It was built to be a part of Björk's intriguing Biophilia project, which looks to be a pretty stunning effort — I certainly want to make it to one of her concerts!

I find this video very affirming.  Here's what it says to me: when trying to bring something new to life, you will be faced with many challenges.  Friends will question your vision, lawyers will come up with a million reasons why you shouldn't do what you want to do, and money people will demand the right to dig up your precious little seed of an idea each day to ensure that it's growing (they have to be sure to get their full money's worth, you know).

In response, just start.  Plunge in.  Create.  Excessive talking and planning is a sign that you are stuck in an emotional-intellectual mire of your own making.  That mire gets its power from our fear of the unknown.  In order to break its grip, you need to start – anywhere.  It's hard to break out of, for sure.  But we can all do it.  How did Björgvin Tómasson manage to figure out what a gameleste would be like when it did not exist?  By starting, by making it.  And now we all also know what a gameleste is all about, for the person who acts not only brings a new thing to life, but brings all of us along, too.

1 thought on “Björgvin Tómasson’s Gameleste

  1. Hello, I liked this post! Talking about this kind of stuff I thought you may also like to see what happens if you try to combine an organistrum and a slide guitar (among other things like an inkjet printer, a cigar box and couple of pieces of a skateboard..).
    http://www.mpineyro.com/proyectos/?p=40
    I believe your blog is great. I’ve been visiting for a couple of months and I find it really inspiring.
    Regards.
    Martin Piñeyro.

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