Wolfgang Dorninger has invited the two electronic developer and sound artists Uwe Schüler (Kulturgüter-Schuppen Dusslingen) and Ralf Schreiber (Cologne) for his Workshop "Labor Sound" at Experimentelle Kunst (Kunstuni Linz). Ralf and Uwe brought their new project "Stepper Motor Synth" to Linz.
The "Stepper Motor Synth" consists of 3 parts: Motor with controller, Electromagnetic Sniffer and a Piezo-Amp.
The Stepper Motor Synth uses a simple circuit without special stepper motor drivers or microcontrollers to control stepper motors from vintage IT hardware. The resulting mechanical noises are made audible via made audible via piezo contact microphones. In addition, sounds are transmitted inductively by means of sniffer coils on the motor supply lines and on the motor windings.
Experimental acousto-mechanical enhancements allow vibrations, resonances, friction noises etc. can extend the sound spectrum. The control of the stepper motor electronics via external sound sources, such as modular synths, and the feedback of the resulting stepper motor sounds into the external sources will be sources will be explored in the workshop. (Uwe, Ralf)
I will put a short jam session online soon. Spoiler alert: It sounds a lot like techno!
