Last night, I witnessed a modern marvel of DIY audio. At the Sidewalk Cafe, my regular haunt, Steve Espinola, resident alternative instrument maker and sound inquisitor, presented one of his latest developments: the reproduction of sound without any electricity. His goal is so that in the possiblity that electricity may not exist or world suffer massive destruction, that those left over (or discovering our planet) will be able to listen to our music.
How you ask?
Espinola has been making live recordings of fellow artists onto plastic picnic plates, making playable (!) 78s. He pairs this with a wind-up HMV Victrola (no electricity needed), places the picnic plate, and lets her go.
Espinola is also the creator of the electric tennis racket.
Here's the only site I found in regards to his picnic plate recordings, a forum discussing the different techniques and strategies in the picnic plate recording process. You can also visit his site which contains plenty of other time-wasting material, including a lenghty conversation with one of the Nigerian e-mail scammers.
Last night, I witnessed a modern marvel of DIY audio. At the Sidewalk Cafe, my regular haunt, Steve Espinola, resident alternative instrument maker and sound inquisitor, presented one of his latest developments: the reproduction of sound without any electricity. His goal is so that in the possiblity that electricity may not exist or world suffer massive destruction, that those left over (or discovering our planet) will be able to listen to our music.
How you ask?
Espinola has been making live recordings of fellow artists onto plastic picnic plates, making playable (!) 78s. He pairs this with a wind-up HMV Victrola (no electricity needed), places the picnic plate, and lets her go.
Espinola is also the creator of the electric tennis racket.
Here's the only site I found in regards to his picnic plate recordings, a forum discussing the different techniques and strategies in the picnic plate recording process. You can also visit his site which contains plenty of other time-wasting material, including a lenghty conversation with one of the Nigerian e-mail scammers.