Here at SolidSmack, we do our very best to keep you on the forefront of the 3D printing world…but occasionally, it’s nice to simply sit-back and ogle something pretty! In terms of aesthetics, “pretty” might be one way to describe The Product’s Soundmachines, but stimulating, might be an even better word to encapsulate the Berlin-based company’s nifty brainchild.
Soundmachines is an instrument developed for creating live electronic music, entirely at the whim and creative potential of the conductor at the helm. By manipulating the manual controller-arms on the three integrated units, optical sensors on the respective heads of each arm interpret concentric patterns on platters atop the rotating turnstiles below. In some ways, the technology is almost like a hybrid between that of a conventional record player and the audio tracks printed on the infamous LaserDisks. No, it is not necessarily a breakthrough in terms of technological achievement, and certainly, similar things have been done by others (Indianen’s Evil Eye Optical Record Project, for instance). However, the application of the innovation itself is intriguing in terms of the maximized amount of analog user interaction required in order to operate the machine. In this respect, it is the simplicity in the design of Soundmachines which makes the device so unique. It lacks the knobs and intimidating controls of complex mixers, and allows the user to play, tweak, adjust and enjoy intuitively, without having to be a master of conventional studio mixing boards.
In an age where the analog-digital barrier is becoming less-defined as technology further integrates itself into our lives, there are always those innovations which stand-out and make us think about the fine line between the user and the machine. These are often the innovations which lack touch-screens and mouse pointers—the inventions that offer an innocence and purity to the user by allowing for freedom of creativity in an unconstrained environment. Soundmachines certainly fits into that niche category of products, where the user’s mind is the GUI.
It is inarguable that the pro-audio industry has given the world a vast array of digital devices in recent decades. Accordingly, many of these gadgets are hallmarked with unique traits, features and assets that were designed with the aim of better-bridging the gap between analog motion control and digital processing—take the KORG KAOSS Pad, or Roland’s D-Beam Controller, for instance. But what is awesome about Soundmachines is that it capitalizes on Universal Design; old, young, professional, amateur…anyone can use Soundmachines. It has a common rhetoric that is instinctively interpreted—the user correctly guesses exactly how to operate the machine: no instructions needed. The design is so strangely dissociated from conventional ergonomic principles, yet it is so tangible and touchable. And hey, a little Bauhaus-esque modernist style never hurts!
(Images via The Product)
