Notebook entries relating to the development and performance of the Twigstrument, an electro-acoustic bowed twig instrument developed by Caitlin Rowley, building on Michael Ridge’s earth block instrument (with permission).

Development of this instrument has been supported by the commission of PIGSPIGSPIGS by Borealis – a festival for experimental music (NO), Spor Festival (DK) and Wigmore Hall (UK), as well as by development funding for that piece from Arts Council England. It has additionally been supported by Cyborg Soloists, who have generously loaned the Bela Mini nanocomputer the instrument is based around.

First performance: 31 August 2024, Bawley Bay, Gravesend as part of Wavelength Orchestra for Fourth Portal’s Drilling for Oil: An Immersive Performance (early prototype of the instrument).
Subsequent performances:
15 March 2025, Cornerteateret, Bergen for Borealis – a festival for experimental music.

Also referred to as: Bowed twig instrument