The modular music box by monomatic
Monomatic’s Modular Music Box on display at the Kinetica Art Fair, February 2011.
Thanks to Kamila for demonstration duties.
More information: monomatic.net
At the heart of the piece is a custom-made electro-magnetic rotary sequencer. Melodies are stored on a series of interchangeable, acrylic, 10” disks embedded with small magnets arranged in a regular circular grid
In the same way vinyl records are located on a turntable, these disks are centered on a spindle and rotate over a ‘play head’ made up of a line of magnetic field sensors – effectively replicating but superseding the set of pins on the revolving cylinder that pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb in the traditional device.
Additional units are ‘daisy-chained’ to each other via single cables and include a self contained and controllable sound source (to hear and effect the musical output) and an animated representation of a dancing ballerina automaton – realized as a modern-day interpretation of the praxinoscope.
Inspired by the design of the second generation monome controllers these modular components draw on their minimalist design aesthetic and utilise a similar restricted material palette of walnut, brushed aluminium, translucent acrylic, and orange LEDs.
The work explores exhibition themes such as the ‘materialisation of data’, ‘the tactile digital’ and the ‘invisibility of technology’ while attempting to recapture something of the sense of craft and workmanship, refined aesthetics and genteel appreciation of the iPods of their day – refocused through the minimalist design aesthetic and tactile ergonomics of the monome.
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