{"id":65981,"date":"2020-04-30T14:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=65981"},"modified":"2025-10-17T16:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:39:09","slug":"jesse-stewart-self-isolating-music","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/jesse-stewart-self-isolating-music\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sound of Self-Isolating: Carleton Music Prof\u2019s Videos Spread During Virus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The Sound of Self-Isolating: Carleton Music Prof\u2019s Videos Spread During Virus\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

It started as a gift to friends and Facebook<\/a> followers\u2014a musical video a day for 40 days of quarantine to counteract bad news and boredom during the novel coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesse Stewart<\/a>, an award-winning percussionist, composer, multi-faceted artist and Carleton University music professor, can make music with anything. And in these videos, shot at home by family members, he shows us how. He plays beats on mixing bowls, cardboard boxes, brass address numbers, rotary saw blades, bicycles, floor tiles, even rock core samples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Prof.
Prof. Jesse Stewart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He also features obscure and mostly acoustic instruments from his 100-plus collection\u2014a pitch bending thumb piano, an amplified palette, a wind wand, an auracle handpan and a euphone. Sprinkled among the 40 days are a few commissioned shorts and performance videos made before the pandemic, but most videos are new and low-fi and feature a joyful Stewart doing what he loves best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And joy, like a virus, can be contagious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of people, sometimes thousands, started tuning in, commenting and sharing Stewart\u2019s daily musical offerings. One in particular, \u201cDifferent Strokes<\/a>,\u201d a composition he performed on canoe paddles, has been viewed nearly 30,000 times.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI was really surprised by the reach those videos ended up having because I didn\u2019t post them anywhere other than Facebook,\u201d said Stewart.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI think that the pandemic may well have lasting effects on the way we interact with each other. Online music-making, live-streaming and online concerts\u2014I think even after the pandemic we\u2019re going to see more of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMusic has capacity to bring people together, even when it is mediated by computers and the Internet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Jesse<\/figure>\n\n\n

Making Music After a Six-Month Hiatus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Part of what makes these videos extraordinary is that Stewart had surgery in February to remove a benign tumour that had been pressing on his brain and optical nerve, causing significant pain and discomfort. For six months, he\u2019d been unable to make music, so these videos also forced him to \u201cthink musically again,\u201d and feel part of something larger.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cOne of the things I love about music is the social dimension. Music, I think, can facilitate friendship and community and those are things I really value. And I missed that aspect of it. But I tried to, you know, keep active mentally,\u201d he said, laughing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes I would practice in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stewart began playing drums as a kid and quickly diversified his repertoire as a percussionist to include a huge range of instruments and musical styles, including jazz, free improvisation and electronic. He has performed and recorded with musical luminaries from around the world and is in constant demand for collaborations and commissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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