Noise-A-Thon 'Protects Hearing,' 'Celebrates Sound'

Matthew Nolan, technical director of computer game design, performs John Cage's 4'33'' during the event. (Lauren Jost) 

UPDATED 2:30 a.m. 

A myriad of electronics, amplifiers and assorted instruments created unique harmonies at International Noise Awareness Day’s all-night Noise-A-Thon.

The Noise-A-Thon concluded a day full of special programs ranging from audio maps of George Mason University, free hearing tests and special interviews with musical artists played on WGMU. The theme of the day, which was held on April 26, was “protect your hearing, celebrate sound.”

According to Mason’s website for International Noise Awareness Day, 38 million Americans, about 12 percent of the population, suffer from hearing loss. Much of this loss could be prevented.

The Noise-A-Thon hosted performers of all calibers and genres, as well as a few unlikely “noises” to create music. The School of Art’s newly opened audio lab served as the venue for the night’s festivities. Silent films ran behind the performers throughout the night.

Mason’s pep band director, Michael “Doc Nix” Nickens was featured on the tuba. Printmaking professor Helen Frederick played the tambura, an Indian lute, with Nickens and a student who played on a drum kit he made out of scrap metal. Event coordinator and Art and Visual Technology Professor Thomas Stanley accompanied them on his sound mixing board with idiosyncratic noises of matches being struck, laughter and metal crashes.

In another duet, Stanley performed with fellow AVT Professor Mark Cooley in a set under their stage names “Bushmeat” and “Gut Head” using a guitar, sound bites, rhythms, noises and everyday sounds to create experimental music.

Participant and performer David Long, a senior Art and Visual Technology student, played at 1 a.m.

“It is a good opportunity to sort of break out of your musical habits and experiment a bit,” Long said.

Louis Reichbauer, a senior sculpture student, assisted Stanley in organizing and preparing for the event.

“There was a lot of planning, mostly done by Thomas Stanley and our sound and vision class,” Reichbauer said. “Various artists in the student body really pooled their resources together. A graphic design student made the flier; other people helped set up Facebook groups, put up fliers and gave interviews.”

Reichbauer makes experimental instruments, including four that he showcased at the Noise-A-Thon while playing with multiple groups of friends.

“As far as the actual bands are concerned, it was kept extremely open,” Reichbauer said. “Having no stage made it a really intimate experience with the people watching. It really was just a bunch of sound lovers gathered in a space.

The entire event was broadcasted on UStream.com and tweeted at Twitter hashtag #LedZendrix1128.