Medium: H5, PCB, solenoid, ESP8266, laser-cut acrylic

Inspired by the sounds created by drumming on surfaces with your fingers, Sound Swarm was borne by the progression and translation between the digital and the analogue. Pushing the boundaries of what constitutes as an instrument, this mechanical drum machine hits a solenoid off the surface that it fixes upon, and creates a percussion instrument of the object it’s attached to.

This project started as a prototype during my residency at Smiede in Hallein, Austria. and it evolved into a product that was sold during a workshop at Sonar Festival Hong Kong.

In order to control the Soundthing you connect to the onboard ESP8266 microcontroller through its WiFi. The embedded website allows the users to control the Beat pattern and Beats Per Minute.