At the Abbott's Get-Together this year, I saw John Shyrock lecture. In it, he performed his Cups and Balls routine to classical music, as it is a "classic of magic." This got me thinking: what other close-up effects could be done to music?

My buddies and I were sessioning recently, and I showed them a Linking Ring routine I perform regularly at restaurants (using 5-inch rings), except this time I used some of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusic". I took the MP3 of the whole movement, then used an editing program to pull out the 4 minutes I wanted to do my routine to.

Altogether, we ended up doing rings, ropes, D'Lites, and even a coin matrix to music, and all turned out wonderfully!

I'm playing right now with a Cups and Balls routine of my own using Rossini's "Barber of Seville" (I think it's fun using easily recognizable music, like from classic Bugs Bunny cartoons).

I'm amazed at how much fun this is, and it's a great exercise in creativity. When I perform, I always use patter, so it's an exercise for me on how to do magic non-verbally. Just take some effect that you perform and know inside out. Then, put some random music on (or even the radio!) and start jamming! You'll be surprised at how well things can work out.

You could play some music over your cell phone on speaker phone by recording a personal message and replaying it. I always thought of useing this Idea for more of a joke to make fun of cheesy stage magic, but I try not to do comedy magic. If what you mean by useing music is for walk around I don't think any one will take it seriously.

What other close-up effects can be done to music?
Probably all of them.

I do a one coin routine set to music ...