[The User]
a group made up of Thomas McIntosh, the architect, and Emmanuel Madan,
the composer, has made a name for itself by taking outdated technology and creating new and interesting artistic reuse projects with it. [The User] Thomas and Emmanuel gained recognition first with their audio art creation "The Symphony for Dot Matrix Printers". However, all along they've been working on the Silophone. As the name implies, the Silophone project is the conversion of a grain elevator into a musical instrument. They picked Silo #5, because Thomas became enamored with it while writing his thesis in architecture. It's no wonder, because Silo #5 is a concrete grain elevator that measures over 650 feet in length, 50 feet in width and is a menacing 17 stories high. Each of its 115 grain bins can hold up to about 53,000 cubic feet of grain.

Since the early 1990s, the structure has been abandoned due to changes in the global grain market that made Montreal a less desirable port for the export of grain. Because of the enormous expense and complexity to demolish Silo #5, it remains standing today.

Thomas McIntosh used to take advantage of Silo #5's vacancy. He would periodically sneak in to study its machinations. What made the elevator significant to him is that it represents the final innovations in grain elevator technology. While doing his thesis research on Silo #5, he noticed something else remarkable about the structure, which was also a function of its design. He became fascinated with how architectural spaces can shape the way sound travels. Long cylindrical cement structures can't be simulated on a computer and can't be found in nature. The echo created here is in a way, perfect. Click here to listen to the sound of a trap door closing atop one of the grain bins.

This discovery led Thomas and Emmanuel to apply for grants, corporate funding, in-kind donations and building usage permits to turn the dormant Silo #5 into the mighty Silophone. The total value of the funding is hard to determine, but Thomas believes that the figure is well over $300,000 (Canadian). The Silophone has been used as a place for concerts on numerous occasions. The most recent concert was held on June 17th and featured the music of Aube, Steve Heimbecker, Jean François Laporte and the [The User].

The beauty of the Silophone is that anyone can use it and listen to it at any time. Click here to listen to the Silophone right now in real time! (If nobody else is using it at the moment, it may be silent.) Then, click here to open up a window to play sounds into the Silophone. You can even upload your own sounds!

The future of the Silophone is in question, but Thomas and Emmanuel are working on the next phase of the project. For more information about the Silophone, stay tuned to your public radio station and beconnected.org as the next story about Silo #5 will be produced soon. Also be sure to visit http://www.silophone.net.