Artist Invites Musicians to Try Out His Invented Musical Instruments

By Carol Flynn

It all started when David Barsotti was walking his dog and found the hammer assembly from a piano left out on the street for refuse pick-up. He brought it home and started tinkering with it. This was in 2014.

Since that time, he has created seven musical instruments from abandoned pianos and other reclaimed materials, which he will exhibit in a show, “Strings and Things,” on Saturday, May 21, 2022, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., at Joplin Marley Studios, 9911 S. Walden Parkway, in Chicago. The event is free and open to the public.

Barsotti calls his creations “d’vioelloes,” and they represent the intersection of art sculpture, invention, and music. He built the first one just to see what he could create without really thinking about what it would sound like. His interest has evolved with time, and now he is more interested in the musical aspects.

“I always liked tinkering with things, and this started more as a process of discovery than anything else. I wanted to see what I could build," said Barsotti.

"Now my knowledge of music has grown quite a bit through self-study. I’ve been learning about music from different cultures, what scales to use. Depending on the tuning, you can get many sounds from the instruments. Each one is unique with a different sound,” he said.

The first d’vioello is composed of twenty-four tunable high-tension piano wires attached to a wooden base that acts as an acoustic resonance chamber to amplify the sounds created by the vibration of the strings. Barsotti used a coffee table to create the base. The other creations are similarly made, ranging in size from twelve to twenty-four strings, and using other handmade and repurposed items, like the metal base of an outdoor planter.

Although Barsotti has shown his work before and visitors were encouraged to try out his creations, an important part of this next exhibit is a formal invitation to musicians to stop by to try out the instruments. They can bring their own instruments, also.

“Up to now, it’s been more about people playing the instruments for fun. Now it’s time to see what they can really do musically. I am not a musician, so this is an opportunity to work with musicians. Some have tried the instruments and have thought they were cool and unique,” said Barsotti.

Barsotti grew up in and still lives in the Beverly community on Chicago’s southwest side. He attended Chicago schools and is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He comes from a line of craftsmen and artists. His grandfather was a blacksmith for the Pullman company and crafted tools and implements. His father, the late Franco Barsotti, was a well-known innovative photographer.

Barsotti’s younger brother Steven works in experimental sound on the West coast, and Barsotti did some projects with him. Although, in Barsotti’s words, the outcome was “some rinky-dink instruments,” it did show his aptitude in this area.

Despite the family legacy, Barsotti didn’t get into art in a big way until his adult years, especially after he became involved with the Beverly Area Arts Alliance, which has been putting on the Beverly Art Walk since 2014.

He volunteered to help with the first Art Walk, and this led to him becoming a member of the Alliance board of directors. He is a recognized and valued member of the Beverly arts community.

“Dave has had a tremendous impact on the Arts Alliance and our ability to do so many things. He’s always the first to volunteer when we need help for building anything,” said Sal Campbell, a founder and the curator of the Art Walks.

“He just has a really unique eye and a way of putting things together. It’s so much a part of his overall style as an artist. He collects all these interesting odds and ends, then he’s very intelligent and meticulous in how he repurposes things. He’s always experimenting and creating and collaborating. It’s very contagious in that way, and he's a lot of fun,” said Campbell.

Involvement with the Art Walks also led to his meeting Nicole Burns, his girlfriend of almost seven years. Burns is entirely in tune with Barsotti’s work.

“In the beginning, he would play quietly while I was practicing yoga. He was doing his thing and I was doing mine. Some of the notes were very appealing, and it all meshed very pleasantly,” said Burns, a fellow artist who believes "no one’s creative spirit should ever be denied.”

“All the instruments are a little bit different, and they all bring a different tune and note to the world, and that’s nice. The instruments are wonderful sculptures, visually appealing to the eye,” said Burns.

Campbell noted that Barsotti and Burns host Alliance concerts in their large back yard, and everyone, including the guest musicians, “just love to play around with the instruments.”

She also noted that “the music can be haunting and sometimes kind of Zen-like.” And while it can be quiet and pleasant for practicing yoga, it can also be “dramatic, like creating the soundtrack for your own horror movie.”

For the early Art Walks, Barsotti created wall and hanging sculptures using the keys, wires, and other pieces of the pianos, and this led to the interest in designing the d’vioelloes.

“I sold a lot of those early pieces, which led me to collect more pianos, and it just grew from there,” said Barsotti.”

A 1986 Chicago Tribune article that profiled Franco Barsotti reported that he told his students there was no right or wrong in the creative process. He tried to inspire his students to take chances on pursuing their own ideas, just as he had done.

His son has that same philosophy.

“Creativity is letting go of your fears. You have to go with what you feel, what you think will work. I’m proud of making these and I want to share them with others,” said David Barsotti.

That same article quoted the senior Barsotti as saying about his experimental photography, “I’ve changed the expectations.”

The same can be said about David Barsotti and his musical sculptures.