SXSW doc showcases "sound sculptor"

A documentary about the Seattle-based "sound sculptor" Trimpin will premiere at the 2009 SXSW Film Festival.

Trimpin was born in Germany, near the Black Forest region, and began playing musical instruments at the age of eight, studying woodwinds and brass instruments. He turned to electromechanical engineering years later after developing an allergy to metal.

Trimpin sums up his work saying it's "extending the traditional boundaries of instruments and the sounds they are capable of producing by mechanically operating them. Although they're computer driven, they're still real instruments making real sounds, but with another dimension added, that of spatial distribution."

His instruments are fairly hard to describe, but video demonstrates his record player cello experiment, or water drip instrument well. Trimpin has also developed an installation that translates earthquakes throughout the world into music at The Art Center in St. Paul, Minn.