So how do you make music -- and pop music, no less -- without using notes? As absurd, impossible, pointless, or even distasteful as that idea might sound, local musician Ian Downey is making a serious attempt at finding out, and asking other musicians to join him.

This past October, Downey issued the "No Tone Challenge," a call for others to submit recordings that follow three guidelines: 1) contain no discernable pitches, melodies, harmonies, etc. 2) avoid "cheesy electronic beats" 3) make it as poppy as possible. And last Friday night, Downey held a meeting for participating artists to listen to what everyone's come up with so far.

"If you look at the history of music," Downey offered shortly before the meeting, "classical, jazz, metal -- many kinds of music all sort of trend over time toward atonality. So I was thinking: could pop music move in that direction as well? When I first started thinking about this stuff, it seemed like just a completely ridiculous thing in my imagination. But then, more recently, I was driving and a Wu-Tang song came on. They had two samples playing together that really didn't fit harmonically at all. And I thought, ‘Wow, if this music could become pop music, who knows what's possible?' Maybe some segment of the population has gotten to the point where we don't listen to harmony or melody in the same way that we used to before."

Of course, Downey is aware that every sound contains a pitch of some sort. He is also aware that the exercise may, in fact, prove to be impossible. Still, he's finding his own criteria even harder to follow than he expected.

"For my own recording," he explained, "I was trying to use nothing but white noise." The problem he encountered was that, when you combine different sources of white noise, the way they overlap makes for a sort of harmony. The harmony may be dissonant, ugly, inorganic, and utterly non-melodic, but you still can't deny the fact that it's a harmony, which means it has pitch.  

"Pretty soon," he continued, "little tones start to emerge that you didn't even intend."

But Downey doesn't think it's futile to keep trying. Within the cozy confines of Potential Life Studios, much of the submitted music had a rather pleasant, uh, ring to it. Perched in a chair at one end of the gallery space and smiling, head-bobbing, and toe-tapping, Downey resembled a cheerful professor while the group of 20something else sat, grade-school style, on the hardwood floor. You couldn't help thinking that this was an exceedingly good-natured way to spend your Friday night. And it wasn't characterized by the stuffy self-indulgence or hard-nosed ironic cynicism you might expect given the concept.  

Clearly, Downey was enjoying the simple act of bringing people together and engaging in friendly analysis. And, it may be a far cry from the Brill Building or Music Row, but don't be surprised if Downey's term, "no-tone pop," eventually becomes commonplace.

"Pop music is supposed to be formulaic, right?," he asked. "I feel like we're searching for that secret formula, like alchemists working away."