Pots, pans, brooms, barbed wire and fence boards might not seem to have much in common acoustically, but Bart Hopkin has built his entire career upon using everyday objects such as these as musical instruments. Hopkin published his first book, Gravikords, Whirlies & Pyrophones: Experimental Musical Instruments, in 1996 with a foreword by Tom Waits and a CD providing examples of what each instrument sounds like. The set fit nicely in any library between John Cage and Harry Partch; lucky for us, he calls the Bay Area home. He gives a lecture at the weekly Science Buzz Cafe on the scientific principles of acoustics on Thursday, Dec. 9, at Coffee Catz, 6761 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol. 6:30pm. $3 suggested donation. 707.829.6600.—Haley Sansom
.December 9: Bart Hopkin at Coffee Catz
