The first time I discovered Snarky Puppy’s “Lingus” was late at night. The moment I heard it, my eyes literally filled with tears. I almost cried. No exaggeration. (I highly recommend giving this song a listen! ✨)
While learning more about the band, I came across the idea of a big band. My first thought was: wow, that takes a lot of people.
But today’s post isn’t really about music. It does have something to do with big bands, though: I’ve collected another installation that makes me think the world is kind of adorable. So what does it have to do with a big band? 🧐
I was thinking, if we lower the requirements a little, could today’s installation plus a group of people become a low-budget version of a big band? Or maybe a swing band?
And this “swing band” literally has swings!
The project is called 21 Balançoires, also known as 21 Swings. It consists of 21 swings and comes from Montreal. According to the official website, it appears every spring in the Quartier des spectacles, Montreal’s downtown cultural and entertainment district.
Each swing corresponds to the sound of an instrument, such as a piano, guitar, harp, or vibraphone. Once you start swinging, you start making the sound of that instrument. And the higher you swing, the higher the pitch gets.
What I find especially interesting is what happens when someone next to you starts swinging too. As you gradually pick up each other’s rhythm and begin to sync, you can use the swings together to “play” more complex and surprising melodies. And you don’t need to know anything about music!
At this point, someone might wonder: if pitch depends on height, then when everyone swings in sync, wouldn’t all the pitches end up being the same?
Hehe. The team thought about that too!
The way the swings trigger sounds changes depending on whether one person, several people, or all 21 people are swinging.
When one person is swinging, the height affects the pitch, just like I described above. When several people swing in sync, more notes and melodies are triggered. And when all 21 swings are moving, the installation enters a secret musical mode, a big surprise the design team left for everyone!
So when people swing together in sync, what you hear isn’t just a bunch of identical pitches.
Later, the project also evolved into Musical Swings, a touring version that has traveled around the world, including New York City, Detroit, West Palm Beach, Dhahran, and Singapore, and it’s still making its way to more places.
So! Turns out a Swing Band really can be made of swings + people. And I hope the city I live in gets more swings that let strangers play together too!
Any chance we’ll see an interactive installation like this in our city someday? 👀
P.S. btw, while looking this up, I learned that “swing band” can refer to a band that plays swing music. And the swing era is closely connected to big bands, which are large jazz ensembles. The 1930s and 1940s in jazz history, for example, are often associated with the Big Band Swing Era. I also came across the Chinese phrase “摇摆大乐团时代” online.