Tinkering as a speculative tool for music composition

This research explores tinkering as a speculative tool for music composition, examining how hands-on experimentation can open new ways of relating to instruments, sound, and performance. Tinkering is treated not as a preliminary stage but as a compositional method in itself—one that unfolds through searching, making, breaking, and reconfiguring materials without predetermined outcomes. By foregrounding speculation, the practice challenges conventional compositional frameworks and embraces uncertainty, error, and unpredictability as generative forces. Central to the inquiry is the shifting role of composer, performer, instrument, and sound, understood not as separate entities but as an entangled system that evolves in real time. keywords: Tinkering, Composition, practice-based research, experimental composition, speculation, KonCon Lectorate