Kyle H Davison is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and experimental instrument builder living in Chicago. He holds a degree in Instrumental Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He learned band instrument repair at Badger State Repair in Elkhorn, WI, where he then became an instructor. Davison has been active in community brass bands, including Forward! Marching Band in Madison, Environmental Encroachment in Chicago, and the upstart ensemble Trout Circus. Since childhood, he been modifying and building with found objects to create unusual sounds. His current focus is developing, composing for, and performing on the Pristophone, a 5.3-octave collection of chromatically-tuned circular saw blades.
I use found objects to create new acoustic musical instruments that share the versatility, facility, and nuance of established classical instruments. I believe that hearing new voices shakes our sense of the familiar and reconnects us to music’s visceral origins.