Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Arrayist Visions

Array innovator Bill Wesley and his orchestra of four are looking forward to the afterparty.  - Image by Chris Woo
Array innovator Bill Wesley and his orchestra of four are looking forward to the afterparty.

Bill Wesley moved to San Diego from Missouri in 1974. The then-teenaged Wesley created light shows for Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge, with projectors that he “modified so I could use foot switches to turn them on and off like a drum set. I still do light shows, but public indifference has killed off what I believe is the greatest visual art form in the history of the world.”

Since the Reader’s last contact with Wesley (January, 2009), a resident of Golden Hill, the 57-year-old musician and inventor has persisted in the quest to turn his electronic “array” instruments — the array mbira, array violin, and, “for rocking-out mayhem,” the array guitar — into must-haves.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Have orders from high-profile performers such as King Crimson and the Kronos Quartet meant an increase in orders from the website?

“[I get] four or five orders a month instead of one or two,” says Wesley. “Yet, 90 percent of them go to movers and shakers in the field of music — for expanding awareness, that’s better than 400 anonymous buyers.”

Wesley’s currently rehearsing the Array Orchestra for the TEDx Seaside Forum. Founded in 1984, TED (technology, entertainment, design) is “a nonprofit devoted to ‘ideas worth spreading.’” Per TED’s literature, Wesley is an example of “the most innovative thinkers and doers in the region” who will be appearing at TEDx.

Wesley’s ideal for the Array Orchestra would be ten trained musical arrayists: five melody array instruments, five harmony arrays, and ten visual projection systems.

“That was a wish list,” says Wesley. “In reality, I expect a maximum of four people and instruments. There will be an after-party — perhaps there the Orchestra will get more of a chance to open up.”

Along with original compositions, Wesley mentioned doing some covers.

“I’d like to do a million things...‘In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida’ or ‘The End’ or ‘Telstar.’ But, so far, just lining up the original songs is more than enough to fulfill, with all the invention and mbira-building and speaking and graphics.”

Bill Wesley and the Array Orchestra will appear Tuesday, May 10, at TEDx Americas Finest City, at Scripps Seaside Forum in La Jolla.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gilbert Castellanos, Buddha Trixie, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Shane Hall, Brian Jones Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival

Grand Socials, gigs, and record releases in Del Mar, City Heights, Solana Beach, Little Italy, and Ocean Beach
Array innovator Bill Wesley and his orchestra of four are looking forward to the afterparty.  - Image by Chris Woo
Array innovator Bill Wesley and his orchestra of four are looking forward to the afterparty.

Bill Wesley moved to San Diego from Missouri in 1974. The then-teenaged Wesley created light shows for Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge, with projectors that he “modified so I could use foot switches to turn them on and off like a drum set. I still do light shows, but public indifference has killed off what I believe is the greatest visual art form in the history of the world.”

Since the Reader’s last contact with Wesley (January, 2009), a resident of Golden Hill, the 57-year-old musician and inventor has persisted in the quest to turn his electronic “array” instruments — the array mbira, array violin, and, “for rocking-out mayhem,” the array guitar — into must-haves.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Have orders from high-profile performers such as King Crimson and the Kronos Quartet meant an increase in orders from the website?

“[I get] four or five orders a month instead of one or two,” says Wesley. “Yet, 90 percent of them go to movers and shakers in the field of music — for expanding awareness, that’s better than 400 anonymous buyers.”

Wesley’s currently rehearsing the Array Orchestra for the TEDx Seaside Forum. Founded in 1984, TED (technology, entertainment, design) is “a nonprofit devoted to ‘ideas worth spreading.’” Per TED’s literature, Wesley is an example of “the most innovative thinkers and doers in the region” who will be appearing at TEDx.

Wesley’s ideal for the Array Orchestra would be ten trained musical arrayists: five melody array instruments, five harmony arrays, and ten visual projection systems.

“That was a wish list,” says Wesley. “In reality, I expect a maximum of four people and instruments. There will be an after-party — perhaps there the Orchestra will get more of a chance to open up.”

Along with original compositions, Wesley mentioned doing some covers.

“I’d like to do a million things...‘In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida’ or ‘The End’ or ‘Telstar.’ But, so far, just lining up the original songs is more than enough to fulfill, with all the invention and mbira-building and speaking and graphics.”

Bill Wesley and the Array Orchestra will appear Tuesday, May 10, at TEDx Americas Finest City, at Scripps Seaside Forum in La Jolla.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Next Article

Tiny Home Central isn’t solving the San Diego housing crisis

But it does hope to help fill in the gaps
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.