I have never particularly appreciated spontaneous music. People on a beach gazing into the blackness of the surrounding area or watching stars fall, are not a match with a showing-off situation of someone, who, through a few "ploinks" believes he has brought a significant improvement to the people's mood. Music can be noisy, but noise is not necessarily music.
There is also a wide variety of "music that is not chosen" in a person's day. Music in a cafe, in a friend's car, in a shop or in the street. In my opinion, there are three distinct categories of people that are playing music in the streets. First, there are those that are gaining some money out of it, they don't have another job in sight and are generally producing medium quality music, with a mediocre approach for the future. There are also those who don't have a particular reason for being there, they have a mild appreciation of what they are producing, and often an even lesser one for their temporary audience. Finally, there are those who expand and improve themselves throughout the experience they are creating, combining their personal investment to the general public's reaction.
The first category is mostly a nuisance. The second one can sometimes have unexpected positive influence on random people that arbitrarily enter their territory. As for the latter, they can change a pedestrian's, driver's, troubled person's or casual walker's day, or sometimes even more.
There are all kind of combinations for street ensembles: Solitary guitarists, percussionists, ethnic groups with traditional organs, flutists, saxophonists, etc. I have always disliked guitarists - there is something not right about that out of tune, random, low quality sound that comes either out of a guitarist's instrument or his mouth. I am quite fond of small ensembles either formed by string or wind instruments. A good combination of these two, can give extraordinary results in urban spaces, and there are some instruments that stick out and add greatness to a band like that. My personal favorite will for ever be groups containing a Hang..!
I admit, it looks like two woks, bent beyond repair and useless for cooking, stuck together. However, for me it is by far the best suited urban instrument (at least for central or south European cities).
For instance, this small group in a pedestrian street in Barcelona certainly has obtained the right attention (in spite of all the indifferent steps that enter and leave the scene). No matter what, anybody who can keep a toddler that concentrated is for sure worth listening to.
It is a rather new instrument (created in 2000 by PANArt Hangbau AG), with a rather eerie sound. It is not very widely spread - partly i think because of its increased price - but it manages to have a rather strong presence on the city streets. Very often, besides hangs, clarinets, cellos, or saxophones are combined together. I am not familiar with many groups that use hangs, however, after a few beers by the London river, discovering this particular group (and this particular song) is part of an afternoon that i will always remember fondly:
In all, it is always pleasant to stumble upon something that surprises the viewer, especially in large, crowded cities. It is even better though to be part of an experience that turns something ordinary, such as a small street or an instrument's sound, into something extraordinary.
