The Eiffel Tower has been called many things. La Grande Dame. The Iron Lady. The ultimate symbol of Paris.

Several more imaginative names were provided by the artists and writers who protested its construction in 1887. A truly tragic street lamp. An ungainly skeleton. A half-built factory pipe.

Now, thanks to Joseph Bertolozzi‘s unique path for artistic expression, an even more inspirational name can be applied. The Eiffel Tower has become a musical instrument.

Tower Music

Composer/musician Bertolozzi has a penchant for discovering new ways of creating music. He has a long career of traditional composing, including orchestral works and choral music, but he is also inspired to find the voice inside inanimate objects and draw out natural sounds as the foundation for composition.

Like any percussionist at heart, he has a tendency to beat out rhythms on whatever is handy—the dinner dishes, doorknobs, railings, and any nearby surface that attracts him.

Enter—the Eiffel Tower . . . and the idea to play its surfaces. The seed was planted back in New York with an innocent comment by Joe’s wife in front of an Eiffel Tower poster. She pointed at the poster and made the sound “bong.” Joe’s imagination took over.

Couple that with Joe’s desire to explore an object’s inner rhythms and to let it speak. Add his persistence with layers of French authorities to get permission to “play” the tower.

It took years to pull it all together. He even had time to “practice” with the Mid-Hudson Bridge, an adventure that produced the lively Bridge Music composition.

An Impressive Range of Tones

Everything vibrates. And 7,300 tons of wrought iron is no exception. The tower has music inside.

“We often bang on it,” said one of the tower’s chief engineers, “to make sure the material isn’t defective.” But safety-check banging is different from Joe’s vision.

For the 12 days he was authorized to collect sounds at the tower, Joe and his team worked hard to leave no surface unbanged.

He tapped railings with assorted mallets at varying intensity. He used drumsticks on girders and spindles. He heaved a log into the sturdy iron legs.

He climbed secret spiral steps and elicited bell-like tones from their underside. He struck panels attached to a security fence and heard sizzle cymbals combined with a thunderous bass drum.

In all, he estimates that he collected more than 10,000 sounds (and managed to pause every now and then to savor Paris unfolding before him).

“I used to think of the tower as one thing, like a single brushstroke. Now, I look at it and see all its individual components,” Joe says with the admiration reserved for a complex literary character or multi-layered painting.

Who’s That Man Beating on the Eiffel Tower?

Music is universal. Rhythms are primal and contagious. So the passersby and onlookers during Joe’s percussive riffs often got involved in the action.

A pair of teenage tourists started rapping to Joe’s beat as he improvised. A tower security guard showed Joe pictures of himself playing the djembe (African drum)—perhaps hoping to play some tower parts himself?

Most everyone was curious, as the team of eight seemed dedicated to a quest, and were hard to miss with their microphones, recording gear, and the strange musical “tools” used to strike the tower.

Back Home in the Studio

Now the cataloging of sounds and notes and the subsequent composing take place in the quieter environment of the studio. More long hours are needed, as Joe hopes to complete the final piece and an album in time for the 125^th anniversary of the tower next year.

Ideally, too, there will be a live performance. But that would take hundreds of musicians and more authorizations from the French government. Another goal would be an audio installation at the tower so visitors could hear the composition.

Brothers in Vision: Eiffel and Bertolozzi

Just like Gustave Eiffel in the original construction of the tower, Joe says, “There were delays and missed deadlines and push back. We were in good company. We both demonstrated perseverance and conviction of purpose to achieve our goals.”

For Eiffel, the tower has achieved a lasting legacy and the appreciation of architects and engineers as well as throngs of Paris visitors (7 million per year).

Bertolozzi, too, hopes that his artistic expression will have a lasting legacy with his completed composition, Tower Music.

And we hope that the OIC Moment of this story lives on. There is music everywhere. You just have to be open to finding it.

$\"Joe$

Hundreds of feet high, Joe Bertolozzi “plays” an Eiffel Tower railing.
\u00a9 Franc Palaia<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The Voice Inside The Eiffel Tower<\/h2>\n
The Eiffel Tower<\/a> has been called many things. La Grande Dame. The Iron Lady. The ultimate symbol of Paris.<\/p>\n
Several more imaginative names were provided by the artists and writers who protested its construction in 1887. A truly tragic street lamp. An ungainly skeleton. A half-built factory pipe.<\/p>\n
Now, thanks to Joseph Bertolozzi<\/a>‘s unique path for artistic expression, an even more inspirational name can be applied. The Eiffel Tower has become a musical instrument.<\/p>\n
Oh, I see. There is music everywhere. You just have to be open to finding it.<\/i><\/p>\n
$\"rtolozzi$ A musical fence . . . with quite a view.
\u00a9 Franc Palaia<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n
Tower Music<\/h4>\n
Composer\/musician Bertolozzi has a penchant for discovering new ways of creating music. He has a long career of traditional composing, including orchestral works and choral music, but he is also inspired to find the voice inside inanimate objects and draw out natural sounds as the foundation for composition.<\/p>\n
Like any percussionist at heart, he has a tendency to beat out rhythms on whatever is handy\u2014the dinner dishes, doorknobs, railings, and any nearby surface that attracts him.<\/p>\n
Enter\u2014the Eiffel Tower . . . and the idea to play its surfaces. The seed was planted back in New York with an innocent comment by Joe\u2019s wife in front of an Eiffel Tower poster. She pointed at the poster and made the sound “bong.” Joe’s imagination took over.<\/p>\n
Couple that with Joe\u2019s desire to explore an object\u2019s inner rhythms and to let it speak. Add his persistence with layers of French authorities to get permission to \u201cplay\u201d the tower.<\/p>\n
It took years to pull it all together. He even had time to “practice” with the Mid-Hudson Bridge, an adventure that produced the lively Bridge Music<\/em><\/a> composition.<\/p>\n
Finally, all the elements aligned.\u00a0The result: The Tower Music Project.<\/em><\/p>\n
$\"Joe$ Even the sturdiest structures vibrate if you hit them hard enough.
\u00a9 Franc Palaia<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n
An Impressive Range of Tones<\/h4>\n
Everything vibrates. And 7,300 tons of wrought iron is no exception. The tower has music inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe often bang on it,\u201d said one of the tower\u2019s chief engineers, \u201cto make sure the material isn\u2019t defective.\u201d But safety-check banging is different from Joe\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n
For the 12 days he was authorized to collect sounds at the tower, Joe and his team worked hard to leave no surface unbanged.<\/p>\n
He tapped railings with assorted mallets at varying intensity. He used drumsticks on girders and spindles. He heaved a log into the sturdy iron legs.<\/p>\n
He climbed secret spiral steps and elicited bell-like tones from their underside. He struck panels attached to a security fence and heard sizzle cymbals combined with a thunderous bass drum.<\/p>\n
$\"Joe$
The bell-like tones of the secret spiral stairs.
\u00a9 Franc Palaia<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n
In all, he estimates that he collected more than 10,000 sounds (and managed to pause every now and then to savor Paris unfolding before him).<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to think of the tower as one thing, like a single brushstroke. Now, I look at it and see all its individual components,\u201d Joe says with the admiration reserved for a complex literary character or multi-layered painting.<\/p>\n
$\"Joe$
Inspired by Paris vistas and the diverse tones of the tower.
\u00a9 Franc Palaia<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n
Who’s That Man Beating on the Eiffel Tower?<\/h4>\n
Music is universal. Rhythms are primal and contagious. So the passersby and onlookers during Joe\u2019s percussive riffs often got involved in the action.<\/p>\n
A pair of teenage tourists started rapping to Joe\u2019s beat as he improvised. A tower security guard showed Joe pictures of himself playing the djembe (African drum)\u2014perhaps hoping to play some tower parts himself?<\/p>\n
Most everyone was curious, as the team of eight seemed dedicated to a quest, and were hard to miss with their microphones, recording gear, and the strange musical \u201ctools\u201d used to strike the tower.<\/p>\n
$\"The$
The Tower Music Team\u2014a job well done.
\u00a9 Franc Palaia<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n
Back Home in the Studio<\/h4>\n
Now the cataloging of sounds and notes and the subsequent composing take place in the quieter environment of the studio. More long hours are needed, as Joe hopes to complete the final piece and an album in time for the 125^{th<\/sup> anniversary of the tower next year.<\/p>\n}
Ideally, too, there will be a live performance. But that would take hundreds of musicians and more authorizations from the French government. Another goal would be an audio installation at the tower so visitors could hear the composition.<\/p>\n
$\"Eiffel$
The legacy of the Eiffel Tower.
\u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n
Brothers in Vision: Eiffel and Bertolozzi<\/h4>\n
Just like Gustave Eiffel in the original construction of the tower, Joe says, \u201cThere were delays and missed deadlines and push back. We were in good company. We both demonstrated perseverance and conviction of purpose to achieve our goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Eiffel, the tower has achieved a lasting legacy and the appreciation of architects and engineers as well as throngs of Paris visitors (7 million per year).<\/p>\n
Bertolozzi, too, hopes that \u00a0his artistic expression will have a lasting legacy with his completed composition, Tower Music.<\/em><\/p>\n
And we hope that the OIC Moment<\/strong> of this story lives on. There is<\/em> music everywhere. You just have to be open to finding it.<\/p>\n
See Joe in action at the Eiffel Tower<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
See Joe in action at the Mid-Hudson Bridge.\u00a0<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
***OIC thanks* *Franc Palaia<\/a> for the use of his photographs.<\/em><\/p>\n***
Comment<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>on this post below, or inspire insight with your own\u00a0OIC Moment\u00a0<\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[211,129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-paris-mappoints","category-music-creative"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11434"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40987,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11434\/revisions\/40987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}