Sounds of Silica: MIT Glass Lab Forms Band

MIT’s Glass Lab, a hotbed of creative materials science in the basement of Building 4, is well known for the visual artworks that emerge from its furnaces. In the spring, however, lab participants entered the musical realm with the formation of the Glass Lab Band, which debuted at the MIT Center for Art, Science, and Technology (CAST) Marathon Concert in April.

The band’s dozen members developed and made their own instruments, under the leadership of Glass Lab Director Peter Houk and this year’s visiting artist, Mark Stewart, a prominent guitarist, composer, and instrument designer who has collaborated with Paul Simon, Philip Glass, Paul McCartney, and many others.

Instrumentation included wind instruments, chimes and bells, tuned percussion, and the uncategorizable “vitreous membranophone” created by Houk and demonstrated in this video.

Houk says the idea began with Kaitlyn Becker ’09, a technical instructor at the Institute’s Materials Processing Center. “She started making glass instruments, like oboes and didgeridoos, and found she could do wave functions. It was really fun and interesting, and we thought, what if we created a glass band?”

The project came to the attention of CAST director Evan Ziporyn, the Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music, who encouraged the group to join the lineup for the concert.

“Each person came out with their instrument and said a few words about it; then they played a short passage, which was sampled, looped, and layered,” explains Houk. “As each person added their part, it created a soundscape; from that, we segued into the Terry Riley piece “In C.” Later, the band was joined by other concert performers, including MIT’s Gamelan Galak Tika and guest artist Pamela Z.

“It was a tremendous experience,” says Houk, who notes that teamwork has always been a central Glass Lab value. “We got to start at ground zero, invent stuff, and work as a team to bring it all together.”