Inside A.C.T.

By Michael Paller If you remember the didgeridoo, the ukulele, or the banjo playing from The Black Rider: Casting of the Magic Bullets at A.C.T. in 2004, you have heard the work of David Coulter. This British-born, Oakland-based musician specializes in unusual instruments whose sound is rarely heard by contemporary audiences—among his specialties are the jaw harp, the theremin, and the musical saw. During workshops for A Thousand Splendid Suns , we spoke with Coulter to learn more about sound art, saws, and the score for Suns . Composer David Coulter in a rehearsal for A Thousand Splendid Suns . Photo by Thomas Moore. What is it about the sound of the saw that attracts you? When played well it is capable of indescribable beauty. It contains passion and tenderness. The opposite extremes are also possible: it can be used to create horrific and excruciatingly ugly sounds. For a carpenter’s hand tool, it is capable of producing a vast and wide array of sonic possibilities. Wha...