eric archer . net » Electric Gongs

Electric Gongs update

admin — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:31:41 +0000

I had a great time presenting the Electric Gongs exhibit at Dorkbot 14. I just added a page to my site that contains a detailed account of my presentation; check it out. I will maintain this page as the main URL for the Electric Gongs until I can launch www.electricgongs.com, which I recently reserved.

Austin Dorkbot veterans BleepLabs and ArcAttack showed off some killer hardware at the event as well. A CBS Morning News camera crew was present and it appeared they covered the entire event thoroughly. The story hasn’t appeared on their website yet, but I will keep checking here to see if and when it is published.

Presenting Electric Gongs at Dorkbot 14: Thursday April 10th

admin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:20:14 +0000

Word has it that CBS Sunday Morning will be sending cameras to cover Dorkbot 14 at the Austin Children’s Museum. I will be presenting the Electric Gongs exhibit, highlighting our use of technology to create a new musical interface and unexpected sounds from an ancient instrument.

So come on out and be there… should be good times. And check back here afterward for my take on how it went.

e-Gong Exhibit Launches

admin — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 05:02:24 +0000

After about a month of heavy-duty experimenting and building, de la maquina launched the Electric Gong exhibit at Austin Childrens Museum on January 19th. It is set to run through September 14th, 2008.

software and touchscreen kiosk: David Nunez

woodwork supervisor: Justin Telepak

machinist: Rick Abbot

tapestry artwork: Darcy Neal

e-gong concept & exhibit design: Eric Archer

Here’s a “before and after” comparison of the three gongs in the exhibit, played first with mallets and then electrified!

played with mallet

electric gong sample

And check out my interactive electric gong player online to hear the sound of the largest gong in the exhibit, an electromagnetically driven 36″ wind gong!

36″ Electric Gong Preview

admin — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 04:49:52 +0000

I’ve been experimenting with different ways to drive the 36″ wind gong that will be hanging in Austin Childrens Museum. I’m beginning to see the advantages of using a non-contact electromagnetic drive. The basic idea is to bring an energized coil of wire near a magnet stuck on the gong. The stronger the magnetic fields, the better. That means lots of watts, heatsinks, and neodymium supermagnets. It works pretty well in the lab. I expect it to be durable in the real world as well because of its minimal nature.

36″ wind gong - electromagnetic drive

Here’s a short, layered composition of recordings of some of the deeper resonances. The lowest is 40Hz, so check your subwoofer. How about those intervals?

e-gong sound sample

admin — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:00:28 +0000

Here’s an example of the 22-inch electric gong I keep at home. Its a short cyclical composition highlighting the harmonic relationship between some of the stronger resonances in the gong. At any time, there are no more than two sinewave frequencies exciting it; we see that the energy does not remain concentrated at these frequencies but spreads out to activate other resonant modes. This effect makes the sound evolve into washes of color.

sample recording

Electric Gong Exhibit: non-technical abstract

admin — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:47:22 +0000

The sound of a sneeze, echoed in a bronze gong, led me to discover that a full rainbow of notes is available inside this ancient instrument. Traditionally, a gong is struck with a mallet, and we hear all of its notes at once; using electronics, I found a way to isolate their frequencies and play them individually. Far from the crashing roar of a mallet-stroke, the new sounds swell up slowly and shimmer. Deep drones, eerie melodies, and silvery high notes are part of the sonic territory of the Electric Gong. Austin Childrens Museum has commissioned an installation of three of these instruments as an Austin-born complement to the traveling pieces in Play It By Ear.

The ethereal nature of the sounds from the Electric Gong installation is reflected in its design; the instruments are suspended in mid-air, clustered as if in flight. Visitors interactively sound the gongs via a touch-sensitive console. By nature, each gong has a unique scale of notes it can produce. These are represented graphically on the console as a constellation of notes similar to a star map. Touching the stars activates the sound-producing mechanism; clever visitors can discover melodies as they explore the constellation diagrams. A working model of the electromechanical heart of the instruments is presented, encouraging visitors to touch and feel the vibrations it generates. With minimal text, the exhibit relies on visual cues and sound to guide children and adults alike through the experience.

The exhibit is set to open on January 19th, 2008.