My Creative Side Anonymous

I rushed home, moving as fast as my gangly 12-year-old legs could take me. After an obligatory “Hi Mom!”, I set about gathering materials to fuel my latest experiment: loose sheets of paper and paper clips. Today, my music teacher had presented John Cage and the prepared piano. I sat, captivated, as I watched a man place mundane objects, such as brass nails and strips of plastic, on and between the strings of his piano. Cage defied convention, a quality that my younger self resonated with. Of course, I had to try this “prepared piano” for myself. Armed with my imagination, I toyed around with different combinations. I discovered that paper creates an eerie timbre and that when I applied greater pressure on the paper, the vibration of the strings decreases, creating a sound that emulates a harpsichord.

Though years have passed, that day remains ingrained in my memory; the rush of euphoria and the intrigue that sprung forth from my venture is a sensation that I treasure in all my endeavors. Creativity sustains me and breathes innovation into my pursuits, pushing me to explore how music translates into emotion. (How, for instance, have our minds grown to associate diminished chords with dissonance?)

That experience has continually...