It was a competition for the most unusual "musical" sound at IMOO on December 4, as a quartet of Ottawa improvising musicians and regular IMOO performers took the stage. Listeners who closed their eyes to focus only on the sounds of this show would surely have been challenged to understand what they were hearing.

Linsey Wellman played percussion with his music stand and metal water bottle, but mostly he stuck to alto sax and bass clarinet, having fun getting unusual sounds, including perhaps the appropriate Mooing of a cow, out of those, more conventional, instruments. Following Linsey's moove, one could imagine a farm coming to life in the following minutes.

Double bassist Philippe Charbonneau was a serious contender with his wire clothes hanger vibrating and being used to bow his bass strings.

Trumpeter Craig Pedersen upped the ante when he borrowed Charbonneau's bow and used it to coax notes out of the bell of his trumpet and flugelhorn. He got even more points for borrowing one of drummer Scott Warren's brushes, and using them to brush his trumpet, then mooving over to the side of Charbonneau's bass.

But the winner had to be Warren himself, when he brought out a roll of packing tape and did his best to control the crackling, squealing sounds coming out of what everyone (including himself) agreed was by far the least controllable instrument in the room. But definitely the one that riveted everyone's eyes and which he had the most fun with.

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See also:

• IMOO's "quiet" concert #31 ends a successful first year
  
• PianoLessMonk plays IMOO
  
• Carleton University Contemporary Music Ensemble fills the Umi Café
  
• An epic composition: brown study at IMOO
  
• IMOO founders present original music on February 20
  
• M. Sean Dowd: Poetic reviewer of improvised music
  
• IMOO: Unusual playing and unusual instruments
  
• Rory Magill and eldritch Priest return to IMOO at UMI on Jan 23
  

All photos ©Brett Delmage, 2011