HackSpace – September 2019

LENS

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First up, the terrifyingly complex and impressive ‘Marble

Machine’ by Martin Molin of the Swedish band Wintergatan.

This instrument uses a hand-powered mechanism to raise

hundreds of marbles to the top of a ramp, before gravity

transports them onto a glockenspiel in a preset pattern

determined by, what looks like, a system of Lego pegs. On top

of this, the machine (which is over six feet tall) has a built-in

‘drum machine’ with kick, snare, and hi-hat, plus an entire

semi-automated bass guitar. It’s impossible to adequately

describe, so go and add to the Marble Machine’s 100 million-

plus YouTube views and see for yourself.

A somewhat more terrifying aesthetic can be found in

Psychiceyeclix’s circuit-bent instruments. Circuit-bending

is the practice of altering an electronic device to generate

sounds beyond what was originally intended, such as adding

a pitch-shift knob to a children’s piano. Psychiceyeclix has

an active and fascinating YouTube channel, where he shows

off his ability to make almost any piece of electronics sound

demonic. He has hacked everything from a Sega Mega Drive

to a Thomas the Tank Engine sound book, and sells a lot of his

creations through his Etsy store.

wintergatan.net

psychiceyeclix.wordpress.com

A similarly ambitious instrument to the Marble Machine,
the ‘Mammoth Beat Organ’ has been created by
Sam Underwood and Graham Dunning in England.
They describe the instrument as “a two-player,
semi-autonomous musical instrument” which plays
“unusual, sometimes erratic compositions drawing
on drone music, minimalist repetition, and fairground
organ techniques”. The mechanical design is modular,
allowing a combination of melodic and percussive
sounds to be triggered from a central drive shaft.

Mammoth

Beat Organ

Marble Machine

Furbinator

mammothbeatorgan.co.uk

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