Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is collaborating with offbeat musicians to create a day of experimental concerts, which will at times see the orchestra's sound manipulated "like on a turntable".

Four concerts, named QSOCurrent, will be held on May 15 and 16 in Brisbane to push the boundaries between the orchestra's classic heritage and modern sounds and technology used by four internationally acclaimed artists.

They include beatbox champion Tom Thum, electronic musician and Gotye collaborator Tim Shiel, Brisbane contemporary music trio Trichotomy and Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra.

Composer Gordon Hamilton was commissioned by QSO to collaborate with Thum.

He was asked to "smoosh these two things together, having a concerto for an orchestra and a beatbox sound," Hamilton said.

Unlike other compositions which Hamilton usually created in so-called "ivory towers", this time he and Thum spent days at his home breaking new ground together.

"With Tom it was quite different, it was a fascinating process," Hamilton said.

"Through this weird process we made music.

"I've never done anything quite like it, creating sound that I had never imagined before."

Composer Gordon Hamilton, speaking at the media preview, embraced composing for the new-style of music. ( ABC News: Giulio Saggin )

Thum, from Annerley in Brisbane's inner south, does not read music and found the collaboration process difficult yet invigorating.

He gave a sample of what to expect at the launch of the concerts, saying he would use loop machines and sample pads throughout the performance in May.

"It is a project that I don't think anyone has done before to this extent," he said.

"It is really pushing new ground, like live manipulation of the orchestra like you would on a turntable.

"For me to take my ideas from my background to Gordon and for him to actualise it and score it out and envisage it with a full orchestra ... it's really cool and exciting and a tough slog."

Mexico's de la Parra will conduct a world premiere of North American composer Philip Glass' arrangement of a work by contemporary electronic group Aphex Twin.

De la Parra founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas when she was 23 and gained widespread attention for her vibrant and cutting edge performances.