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LEOMJ17_pp017-020.ps - 10/29/2007 8:48 AM The Springboard: The Joy of Piezo Disk Pickups for Amplified Coil Springs Eric Leonardson ABSTRACT T he Springboard is an electroacoustic instrument that I have performed on almost exclusively since 1994 [1] (Fig. 1). Its invention was inspired by a desire to make new and unusual sounds with coil springs and other materials not normally considered to possess musical or even sonic potential. Using the piezo disk contact microphone [2] was key to bringing the Springboard to life, and the mic is now a common tool for any practitioner of experimental music, instrument inventors and most of my students. NEW WAYS TO MAKE SOUND My entry into the world of sound began as a visual arts student interested in ideas and creative opportunities offered by contemporary art, music and—at the time—new electronic media. Setting aside the manual tools of pencils and paintbrushes for the nonmanual ones of video, audiotape and sound synthesis presented a challenge. Over the years, the loss of immediacy in producing audible and visual results continued to frustrate me. The promise of technology to make things never heard or seen before possible was failing, or at least inhibited by what traditional tools could do in an immediate and natural fashion. Initially, there was the problem of cost. As secondhand computers became affordable in the early 1990s, I sensed that the obstacle was not my failing but that of the interface. Its limited possibilities for real-time generation and manipulation of sounds kept me dissatisfied, whether I was working in the studio or in a live context. Art-making was literally out of my hands. On meeting composers Nicolas Collins and Elliott Sharp in the late 1980s, I gained an appreciation for self-built instruments and hardware controllers. As I lacked the knowledge required to build and program relatively complex electronic hardware and software, it was not until I participated in Hal Rammel’s first instrument invention workshop at the Experimental Sound Studio [3] that I found my answer in two simple devices: the inexpensive piezo disk contact microphone and the horsehair bow. This lo-tech marriage of the acoustic with the electronic served as a rewarding if not brilliant point of entry into a new world of possibilities in the exploration of the inaudible and seldom heard potential of nonmusical materials and their use in a wide range of live and recorded works across the art disciplines and diverse communities of free improvised music, radio art and theater. T Nearly any material and object in the everyday environment has the physical ability to vibrate in the audible frequency range. Once amplified, its potential for art-making is just a matter of the time required to become familiar with the range of behavior of the sound. Part of the beauty of the piezo contact mic lies in its ability to allow the sound explorer a way to get around the engineering and design challenges that a “proper” acoustic instrument presents, the interre- he Springboard is a do-ityourself instrument made from readily available materials: An amplified soundboard makes the vibrations of coil springs and a variety of other small and nonprecious objects audible. Thanks to a simple piezo contact microphone, the Springboard’s humble constitution belies the richness of its sounds, a signature of the author’s activities in live and recorded works across many art disciplines. Fig. 1. The Springboard, a self-built electroacoustic instrument made from coil springs, a walker and a wooden soundboard amplified with a single piezo pickup. (Photo © Eric Leonardson) Eric Leonardson (artist, educator), 421 N. Drake Avenue, Chicago, IL 60624-1368, U.S.A. E-mail: <[email protected]>. Web site: <ericleonardson.org>. Sound examples related to this article are available at <ericleonardson.org/composer>. ©2007 ISAST LEONARDO MUSIC JOURNAL, Vol. 17, pp. 17–20, 2007 17 LEOMJ17_pp017-020.ps - 10/29/2007 8:48 AM lated material properties of resonance, impedance, mass, etc. Once one has a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, the price of a piezo contact mic is negligible, and its ability to act as an aural microscope into unknown sonic yet entirely physical aspects of any object or material is truly exciting, if not amazing. The Springboard came to be in a heuristic effort to unlock these potentials, and as long as one accepts them on their own terms, this assemblage of thriftstore finds and everyday detritus offers the immediacy of an acoustic instrument’s sound and physicality, producing a sound that some believe to be synthesized (Fig. 2). CHOICE OF OBJECTS Fig. 2. A cartoon drawing of the Springboard documents an early stage of its development, revealing parts such as a large can that were later discarded in favor of objects that proved to possess greater playability and sonic variety. (Illustration © Eric Leonardson) Fig. 3. The author playing the Springboard with two cello bows for the Synapse Electronic Arts Festival kickoff party at Sonotheque, Chicago, 2007. (© Eric Leonardson. Photo © Charlie Simokaitis.) Enduring the same quip after many a performance—“Did you swipe that [walker] from some little ol’ lady in the street?”—I matter-of-factly explain that years ago my neighborhood had an abundance of thrift stores where second-hand walkers sold for $5–10. Thus, in true starving-artist fashion, I made use of a very affordable and portable stand on which to place the amplified board. The walker serves its function better than heavy and expensive drum hardware. When I am asked how I came up with the idea for this instrument, my story begins with a list of aural encounters: ominous tones caused by brushing against the large coil springs that help raise and lower garage doors, the use of everyday kitchenware and automotive parts in artmusic percussion ensembles and the distinctive sounds of a coil spring reverb —especially when given a hard knock. HOW TO BOW A SPRING A coil spring is similar to a free bar that can be excited at many different points along its length all at nearly the same time. My typical method for activating the spring relies on the use of a cello bow. This is a third element I employ to produce a sound that is distinctly different from the familiar “boing” and “sproing” sounds of coil springs being hit or shaken: Bowing enables tones or drones to be produced that with practice can be rich and varied, similar to yet unlike any cello the listener has heard before. Fans of Robert Rutman’s instrument the Steel Cello [4] or of those rich granular synthesis sounds may enjoy the dense timbres and slowly shifting formants, which can evoke vocal choruses and trombone-like drones. 18 Leonardson, The Springboard LEOMJ17_pp017-020.ps - 10/29/2007 8:48 AM Bowing is my preferred approach to coil springs over percussive techniques because it excites and sustains sounds over a longer time with richer harmonic content. Bowing at any angle other than transverse avoids jamming the bow between the coils. More rosin and pressure than one normally uses on a cello string works best. With practice, one can vary the inharmonic tones produced by bowed coil springs with changes in bow pressure and direction, along with manual muting and manipulation of the spring. The tones can range from an agglomeration of pitches to an indefinitely pitched drone, often with a large amount of low-frequency content. With five stretched springs providing six spans, each with its own fundamental, it is not difficult to use two bows at once, one in each hand (Fig. 3). Bowing close to the supports as with a sul ponticello (near the bridge) technique brings out the higher partials, en- abling bittersweet melodic passages to be made, while a sweep of the bow across the span of the spring shifts the pitch down to the lower fundamental(s). Modulating the bow pressure during a bow stroke varies the frequency response. When one hand is free while the other bows, the spring can be held in various ways to dampen it and emphasize more definite pitches. With the board serving as a small tabletop and all its other myriad parts, the Springboard produces a multitude of sounds, tones and textures that enable me to play the roles of musician and Foley effects artist both at once or one against the other. With my interests in radio, electroacoustic music and live performance, I seem to have found the device—or assemblage of devices—that enables me to make sounds that work in all these diverse but related fields. Over the years it seems that the productive effort has begun to pay off with recognition and increasing interest in spite of its odd sound, appearance and humble constitution. AUXILIARY OBJECTS AND EFFECTS In addition to bows, I have found friction mallets made from rubber balls and wooden skewers do a wonderful job on the quasi-daxophone [5] (e.g. paint sticks) part of the instrument. Here are three strips of wood that, thanks to the warp of the board’s top surface, can be pressed down upon to vary their pitch as I bow their edges, eliciting high-pitched squeals with an eerily vocal quality. With the friction mallets on these sticks, I can produce moans and what some refer to as “whale song.” The Springboard’s parts include eyebolts, a thick 2-x-6-in board, an aluminum walker, small flat wood sticks, plastic combs, a grill, four narrow coil springs, Fig. 4. Close-up view of Springboard shows the coil springs, grill, weathered wood surfaces, sheet-metal resonator and wood slats that produce the “daxophone” sound. (Photo © Eric Leonardson) Also pictured are auxiliary objects used for making various sounds, including a large rubber band stretched around the eyebolts and grill, a friction mallet, a music box mechanism and a metal box that houses a 20,000-ohm potentiometer. Leonardson, The Springboard 19 LEOMJ17_pp017-020.ps - 10/29/2007 8:48 AM one large detachable coil spring and a metal box that houses a 20,000-ohm potentiometer. This last item does not produce a sound itself. It controls the “feedback level” on an Oberheim Echoplex Digital Pro™ [6] that I use in occasional solo performances. I began using the Echoplex (in 1999) to sample, loop and overdub the sounds of my playing in real time for my performances with Plasticene [7]. It is a simple foot pedal, consisting of a row of eight momentary switch pushbuttons, so it provides hands-free control of its functions. I use it in occasional solo performances, too. In free-improvised ensemble situations, I avoid the Echoplex, because the musical flow never warrants a continuously repeating sound, especially when performing with highcaliber instrumentalists who shift, halt or change directions faster than I can clumsily locate and step on a button with my foot pedal while both hands are engaged. In addition, given the sensitivity of the pickup, the Springboard does amplify external sound. When that happens to be another musician’s playing, echoing or looping his or her sound is not always welcome or musically appropriate. Other auxiliary objects I use on the Springboard include a pocket radio with a piezo disk plugged into its earphone output and used as a lo-fi speaker, large rubber bands stretched around the eyebolts and grill, a music box mechanism, a pewter goblet, a vibrating massager and a bead chain (Fig. 4). APPEARANCE FOLLOWS FUNCTION Leaving the visual appearance of the Springboard unadorned preserves its utilitarian origin, offering information on the nature of its sound that for some 20 Leonardson, The Springboard may seem inconsistent with the character of its sound output. Audience members sometimes marvel at the simplicity of the instrument after experiencing its rich sound in performance. Absence of visual enhancements maintains it as a sort of didactic tool that demystifies its creation, showing what simple materials and skills are required to begin making instruments of one’s own and hence serving as an invitation to do so. In contexts where the aesthetic effects of advanced technology, high craftsmanship and an aura of fine, precious materials are valued or even exalted, the Springboard’s humble origins and deep sonorities stand as a somewhat contrary aesthetic comment, a reminder of what can be accomplished without a big budget. AGING AND THE PRECIOUS JOY OF NONPRECIOUS MATERIALS Use of nonprecious materials means that some practical concerns regarding theft, damage and loss are reduced. What is irreplaceable is the amount of time committed to acquiring the skill to play it well. Having a set of traditional drumming skills [8] helps immensely, while my bowing technique is competent, having perhaps even a certain degree of virtuosity according to some admirers. The Springboard has improved with age, gaining not only its worn surface patina but a fuller bass sound that negated the need for the equalizer in its first 2 or 3 years of service. One of my graduate students, J.C. Leowe, noted that the wood “opens up” because vibrations made to the wood actually change its resonant properties. Aside from changes in moisture content, I found no scientific explanation for this phenomenon, although all or most stringed instrument players attest to it. What I can attest is that the Springboard is simple in construction yet rich in its potential for complex sounds simply made. References and Notes 1. An introduction to the Springboard resides online at <ericleonardson.org/instruments/index .html>; an earlier article was first published in Experimental Musical Instruments 11, No. 4, 22–23 ( June 1996). On-line audio examples are at <ericleonard son.org/composer/index.html>. 2. Two excellent “how-to” books for making piezo disk pickups are Nicolas Collins, Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking (New York: Routledge, 2006); and Bart Hopkin, Getting a Bigger Sound: Pickups and Microphones for Your Musical Instrument (Tucson, AZ: See Sharp Press, 2002). 3. Experimental Sound Studio (ESS) is a nonprofit organization in Chicago, founded in 1986 for the production and promotion of innovative approaches to the sonic arts. The mission of ESS is to make audio technology accessible and affordable, as well as to encourage the creative process <www.exsost.org>. 4. Robert Rutman (b. 1931) is a visual artist and inventor of the Bow Chime and Steel Cello, instruments made of wire, steel rods and sheet metal. Audio samples can be heard on his web site: <www .rutman.de/>. 5. The daxophone is an instrument invented by Hans Reichel that enables its player to amplify the vibrations of bowed, or otherwise excited, thin wooden sticks of varying shape and species. Its surprising sounds and the music made with it can be heard in Reichel’s recordings and at his humorous Flash-animated web site: <daxo.de>. 6. The Oberheim Echoplex Digital Pro™ is now a Gibson product and still considered a high-end, multi-featured, real-time sample loop device. 7. Plasticene is a Chicago-based physical theater company founded in 1995 and recognized as one of the city’s foremost experimental theater companies <www.plasticene.com>. 8. As a teenager I learned rudimentary drumming and gained my early performance experience in the Vaqueros, a local drum and bugle corps. Manuscript received 2 January 2007. Eric Leonardson is active in Chicago’s experimental improvised music community and is a composer and sound designer for Plasticene. He was a founding member of ESS and currently teaches at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.