George Smits
Encyclopedia
George Smits aka 'Toet', was a Belgian visual artist, experimental music
ian and inventor of experimental musical instruments.
In the sixties he was a member of the band of Ferre Grignard
. Smits was also active as an actor in a few movies, and was part of Antwerp's underground arts scene (e.g. the Ercola collective and also part of Fred Bervoets band and Panamarenko
). Besides his musical carrier he was active as a painter, and an experimental musician with his own radio show on the Belgian public radio Radio Centraal. This radio show, broadcasted at night, rose the motivation for Smits to increasingly focus on creating music (leaving some of his painting unfinished), using instruments he had invented himself as well as effects, but also, gradually, new electronic tools.
Smith prepared his radio show very precise, spending about 20 hours of recording of sounds in advance of the broadcast. On the radio broadcasting he worked under the pseudonym Captain Zbolk.
George Smits is mostly known for his self created musical instruments. Many of Smits' instruments are acoustic and made with polystyrene
, large springs
and long strings
.
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
ian and inventor of experimental musical instruments.
In the sixties he was a member of the band of Ferre Grignard
Ferre Grignard
Ferre Grignard was a Belgian skiffle-singer from Antwerp who surprised the world in 1965 with his international hits "Ring Ring, I've Got To Sing" and "My Crucified Jesus".-Biography:...
. Smits was also active as an actor in a few movies, and was part of Antwerp's underground arts scene (e.g. the Ercola collective and also part of Fred Bervoets band and Panamarenko
Panamarenko
Panamarenko is a prominent assemblagist in Belgian sculpture. Famous for his work with airplanes as theme; none of which are able nor constructed to actually leave the ground....
). Besides his musical carrier he was active as a painter, and an experimental musician with his own radio show on the Belgian public radio Radio Centraal. This radio show, broadcasted at night, rose the motivation for Smits to increasingly focus on creating music (leaving some of his painting unfinished), using instruments he had invented himself as well as effects, but also, gradually, new electronic tools.
Smith prepared his radio show very precise, spending about 20 hours of recording of sounds in advance of the broadcast. On the radio broadcasting he worked under the pseudonym Captain Zbolk.
George Smits is mostly known for his self created musical instruments. Many of Smits' instruments are acoustic and made with polystyrene
Polystyrene
Polystyrene ) also known as Thermocole, abbreviated following ISO Standard PS, is an aromatic polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry...
, large springs
Spring (device)
A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...
and long strings
Long string instrument
The long string instrument is an instrument where the string is of such a length that the fundamental transverse wave is below what we can hear as a tone . If the tension and the length result in sounds with such a frequency the tone becomes a beating frequency ranging from a short reverb to...
.
Discografie
- Zbolk Night Radio, (1997, Audioview/Lowlands AUDIO-002, 70'01")
- Toet (Audioview/Lowlands Distribution)