Geeky bit on a snartsy experience, science nerdy and artsy.

Sitting behind the soundboard at a Dark Star Orchestra show at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Del (3/5/2026 playing a 1984 Dead show from Alpine Valley, WI. A classic analog soundboard with 100s of little dials in mint condition lovingly draped in tiedye at halftime. Excellent sound, each instrument clear in the mix.

 photo representing a Jerry guitar run

The board had a tiedye video display that was a fun fusion of science and art. On top, a plot of frequency color-mapped by amplitude in a rainbow spectrum, rolling vertically through time. Underneath a red line graph of amplitude vs frequency. The lower plot first caught my eye as tan abstract view of he cover of my first and favorite Zappa record, One Size Fits All. A red sofa floating in space (Du bist mein sofa!) The top graph was an improvised temporal expression of tie dye color. The bass showed horizontal lines in a rhythm of yellow accented in orange and blue. Small spattering of drum color in the background. Multicolored vertical patterns of melody dominated the mids and highs. The extreme high only responding in isolated peaks of vocal timbres. The far low-end empty until Drums when it filled with a solid stripe of red-hot color from a large hanging drum. Jerry runs were beautiful cascading blue tendrils in the mid to highs. Slide guitar veered across the vertical pattern. Sometimes large gaps in frequency space. Surprised and baffled by distinct gridwork in the bass.

No doubt why I enjoyed this so much. The experience coupled many of my favorite things: live music, abstract art, physics, crystal clear sound, improvisation, The Dead, and a Zappa album and meshed with some experiences: the rainbow color map I use in thermal imaging, frequency analyses from my MS thesis, and recent reading of Fourier's original work on the Fourier Transform.

An aside and all hail to Jerry.
Looking at the frequency patterns of Jerry-style guitar and stealing some terms I don't pretend to understand, Jerry's Cosmic Chromatics included arpeggios, half-step approach tones, chromatic passing tones, ghost notes, and chord-tone encirclement. "Like many beboppers...and  "Like Django Reinhardt, ...embellishing arpeggios."

Terms that can be used (or not used) when planning to clear a room.

musical audacity and originality 

abstract electronic music
action jazz
avant-garde
avante-garde jazz
creative music
danger music
electroacoustic music
ecstatic jazz
energy music
experimental jazz
experimental music
found sound
free improvisation
free jazz
free music
immediate ("in the moment") musical composition
improvised music
musical extemporization
noise music - expressive use of noise within a musical context.
non-idiomatic improvisation
sound sculpture

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No conventional use of melody, harmony, rhythm or pulse
sound-based creative practices
improvisation
extended technique
cacophony
dissonance
indeterminacy

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Extemporaneous composition or free performance of a musical passage, usually in a manner conforming to certain stylistic norms but unfettered by the prescriptive features of a specific musical text. 

Improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its own right. 

To "play or sing (music) extemporaneously, by inventing variations on a melody or creating new melodies, rhythms and harmonies".

How do I Clear a Room?

 Also see a Note to a friend post.

Trying to make up a list of “clear the room music” that may be good for people wanting to check it out.  At first thinking accessible but that does not really give a a good sonic picture.  So I mixed in more adventurous recordings ( marked with a *).

* John Coltrane- Live at the Village Vanguard

The Thing - Garage

Atomic - any recording

Zu and Mats Gustafson - How to Raise an Ox

* Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz

The Peter Brotzmann Octet - Machine Gun 

Lasso Marhaug - The Shape of Rock to Come

*Frank Zappa - Uncle Meat

Vamdermark 5

William Parker

David S Ware

Matthew Shipp

Dear Blockhead

Dear Blockhead, 

The best creative music is when it strays far from its own basic form. The idea of picking the best music is really counterintuitive to listening to improvised music. Anybody who uses a list to find the best version of a song is missing the point (wanking). Listening to improvised music is to get to know the many versions.  A lifelong pursuit.

Ramble On,

DeadHead

Sabbath

WaslX

Two Bands and a Legend

Pete reminded me of this one the other day and just gave another look over and listen.  Thurston Moore sums it up in the liner notes.  The Thing would rock out some outdoor summer festivals. No rooms to clear there.  Why not?  Who else would mix James Blood Ulmer and PJ Harvey?

T w o  Bands and a Legend   

Cato Salsa Experience, The Thing, Joe McPhee

Billboard Top 10 meets Ornette Brotzmann Beefheart Dolphy Zappa Sun Ra Coltrane

Clear the room or play or a nice little ditty, it's got a good beat ....?

1958
Something Else!!!! - Ornette Coleman
Witch Doctor - David Seville 

1959
The Shape of Jazz to Come - Ornette Coleman
Mack The Knife - Bobby Darin

1960
Free Jazz - Ornette Coleman
Teen Angel - Mark Dinning

1961
Eric Dolphy - Far Cry
Runaway - Del Shannon

1962
Live at the Village Vanguard - John Coltrane
The Loco-Motion - Little Eva

1963
Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra - Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy
Blue Velvet - Bobby Vinton

1964
A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
Leader of the Pack - The Shangri-Las

1965
Ascension - John Coltrane
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - The Righteous Brothers

1966
Freak Out! - The Mothers of Invention
I'm a Believer -The Monkees

1967
  Safe as Milk - Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Happy Together - The Turtles

1968
Machine Gun - Peter Brotzmann
Yummy Yummy Yummy - Ohio Express

1969
Karma - Pharoah Sanders
Sugar, Sugar - The Archies