HARMONOGRAPH SYNTHESISER
A harmonograph is an archaic, scientific device that uses pendulums to create illustrations of mathematical harmony. For this installation I built a harmonograph with sensors connected to each pendulum, which triggers a modern day synthesiser. Every time this machine makes a drawing it also generates a unique piece of modern electronic music. I made this installation to explore the beauty of harmonic motion and to try to reconnect with the physicality of old world science and wonder. A machine that comes from a time when we barely understood electricity, now talking freely to a musical instrument that uses electricity as its only sound source. I recorded two albums called Near Unison vol 1 & 2 from the first drawings I made, which can be downloaded from here. I used proximity sensors (reed switches within a housing) and an Arduino to get the harmonograph talking to the synth.
