Günter Müller is a percussionist and drummer active primarily in free improvisation. Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ... A drummer is a musician who plays the drums, particularly the drum kit, marching percussion, or hand drums. ... Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste of the musicians involved, and not in any particular style. ...

Müller was born in München, Germany in 1954 but has lived in Switzerland since 1966. Munich: Frauenkirche and Town Hall steeple Munich ( German: München pronunciation) is the state capital of the German Bundesland of Bavaria. ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Originally a drummer in various jazz enembles, Müller grew interested in free improvisation and began utilizing various extended techniques. He used contact microphones to amplify his drum set, and has incorporated various electronic effects, sometimes using an iPod or minidisk recorder to loop or otherwise process his performances. Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ... Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste of the musicians involved, and not in any particular style. ... Extended technique is a term used to describe unconventional, unorthodox or improper techniques of playing musical instruments or singing. ... A microphone with a cord A microphone, sometimes called a mic (pronounced mike), is a device that converts sound into an electrical signal. ... An extended 4-piece drum kit A drum kit (or drum set or trap set - the latter an old-fashioned term) is a collection of drums, cymbals and other percussion instruments arranged for convenient playing by a sole percussionist (drummer), usually for jazz, rock, or other types of contemporary music. ... A fourth-generation iPod with earphones. ... The Sony MZ1 MiniDisc player, the first to hit the market in 1992. ...

Müller was a founding member of the groups Nachtluft and poire_z, and has collaborated with Gastr Del Sol, Christian Marclay, Keith Rowe, Voice Crack and others. He founded the record label for4ears. poire_z (the underscore is part of the name) was an electronic free improvisation group formed about 2000 Personnel: eRik M: turntables, effects Gunter Muller: percussion, effects Andy Guhl and Norbert Möslang (who recorded as Voice Crack) on homemade electronics. ... Christian Marclay is a visual artist and musical composer based in New York, who is exploring the pattern languages connecting sound, photography, video, and film. ... Keith Rowe is a British free improvisation guitarist. ... Voice Crack was a Swiss electronic free improvisation group. ... A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. ...

External link

• Müller's homepage (http://home.datacomm.ch/g.mueller/mueller.htm/)
• An interview with Müller (http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/114)