On Sunday, Sonic Circuits finished up another year of challenging perceptions on what music is, exactly.

Although the organization puts on events year-round, their Festival of Experimental Music remains the pinnacle of their annual calendar. It serves as a reminder that sometimes the most appropriate response to a performance isn’t throwing up hands or tapping toes, but sitting down, eyes closed, lost in an overwhelming soundscape. It’s not a sign of boredom, so much as a sign that the sonic drone is doing its trance inducing best. It’s the reminder while some people may gather around an artist’s setup at its conclusion because they are gearheads, others may gather around because the gear involved includes plastic battery-operated insects. It’s proof that a cello doesn’t have to sound like a cello, but can sound like a lawnmower, a creaky door hinge or an amplified hummingbird. It shows that noise music is not merely a playground for the young. Experimentation can be humorous or unlistenable, pretty or brutal — but as long as it keeps the audience asking “did they really just do that?”, then it’s doing its job.