The Electro Dumbell
It's name has been taken from comments recieved on it's first public outing. It was based around an idea I'd had for a speaker on a stick, combined with various components that I'd been given or salvaged from various domestic devices. The main chassis is a piano keyand the central lever is from my fathers old mobility scooter. Its heavy and loud with a built in 14 watt amplifier and has been designed to inspire unusual playing techniques.
This is the version 1 prototype and is unlikley to last long since some parts are made from cardboard. I am planning on producing a more complete and robust version 2 in the coming months.
The Ghetto Bastard
This is a portable noise instrument developed from a discarded and hardware hacked portable radio cassette player that I found in the bin at the front of my house. It has been loosely developed in line with pre-conditions that are in continuous development. For the moment, they are: (1) The instrument needs to be constructed from reclaimed and second hand electronic parts; (2) Appropriation of devices that were not originally musical instruments are encouraged; (3) Aesthetic discourse.
Laurie Andersons Tape Bow Violin (Extended)
The Tape Bow Violin was created by Laurie Anderson, and built by Bob Bielecki in 1977 and features on her album ‘United States’ (1979). She removed the strings and attached a tape head to the bridge. She constructed a bow with audio tape in place of the horsehair and bowed it across the tape head. The Tape Bow Violin was then quickly adapted into a MIDI controller, a demonstration of which can be found on Laurie Anderson – the Collected Videos (1991). Documentation of the Tape Bow Violin can be found on Wikipedia (2008) and in the Nicolas Collins book : Handmade Electronic Music – The Art of Hardware Hacking (2006).
The small amount of documentation available for the original Tape Bow Violin warranted an investigation in to how it was built and how it could be expanded on as an instrument in ways other than as a MIDI controller.
I have added an extra play head, speakers and amplification for haptic feedback andcontactc microphones for acoustic amplification. The amplifier has a 200db gain creating some fantastic noise and interference that really brings an otherwise ambient and unassuming instrument to life.
Elecro-magnetic Wand
The Electromagnetic Wands are domestic apparatus used for locating electrical wiring and water pipes in walls. I have hacked them in to musical instruments and re-housed them. I imagine the wand as a pointing device that would be moved around at arms length. This movement at arms length created a virtual space that surrounded me. I called this virtual space a cage as a reference to my attempt to escape the physical and gestural restrictions of performing with a laptop computer. I generally perform surrounded by strip lights on stands as a cage has proven to large a concept to bring to fruition.
Electro-magnetic Wand
This wand has been re-housed into a telephone handset to suggest alienation of a familiar domestic device and as an experiment in ergonomics.
Sound Canvas
The performer creates sound by applying substances to, or physically touching, the canvas with brushes and other various implements. Any substance can be used. I have attached sweet wrappers to the canvas and then applied a freezing aerosol. The freezing and thawing sounds are amplified and, in combination with the aforementioned techniques, can be developed in to a creative sound performance.
It’s a static device that is ‘treated’ in a live situation by the performer who is given free gestural play of the performance space. This separation of performer and instrument allows the performer to focus their gestural
and musical imagination on to the physical static surface of the canvas without having the constraint of constant physical contact with the instrument.
Three separate outputs from three separate contact microphones allow the performer to control the spatial positioning of the sound with their gestures on the canvas with up to three independent speakers for each canvas.
When using this instrument musicians become performers, performers become musicians and both become artists.
The Alarmed Clock
The idea for something as blatantly mechanical as this having an audio output has always amused me. It is fully functional.
As an aside I also planned to use this as a prop for an acoustic gig with the Screaming Banshee Aircrew. In the end time constraints and worries about feedback it wasn't used.
The Audiophone
Like the Alarmed Clock, the theme of alienation of the everyday is a theme that runs through much of my work. It works like the Alarmed Clock but has never been used in performance.
Spinning Heart
The sound circuits and operating principle for this instruments were devised by John Richards and I housed them in an old Box Brownie. It is based around a light sensor and the worlds simplest motor. I'm including this because I thnk it looks stunning. Click here to go to John Richards website for more details.
Attache Verb
It is the only thing here that is still a work in progress. I've put it here because even unfinished I love its appearance and its concept. It is a plate reverb in an attache case. This is unusual for plate reverbs as they usually take up whole rooms and it is unusual for something as formal as an attache case to become a tool for creativity. After all, beuracracy is the enemy of creativity.
