Our Projects
Projects.
THE PURPOSE OF PROJECT WORK
Signals undertakes projects of all sizes in an ongoing effort to educate and entertain our audiences, and of course ourselves. We 'switch hats' regularly from restoring and 'circuit bending' old equipment to developing installations, film sets, corporate days, school visits and workshops... from recording soundscapes, to working with guest artists and live streaming lab events. Examples of our previous, current and ongoing projects are below.
The Motorola Rhythm Box
Many items of test equipment can generate useful although often unpredictable sounds, and through experimentation they may come to add something unique to the soundscapes of the Lab. The Motorola unit pictured below really knocked it out of the park for us, combining a rare blend of light weight, minimalist design with a small footprint and simple, predictable set of functions.
The Motorola Digital Tone Generator
Built in the 1970's this tone generator was intended to assist in designing, testing, troubleshooting, and repairing electronic or electro-acoustic devices.Having purchased the rare unit locally in Perth we assembled a small shelf of equipment and hooked it up. Tone generators send repeating or non-repeating electronic signals. We quickly discovered we had a totally unique drum machine on our hands that can interact with our other equipment.We tweaked the tone bursts to taste by adjusting the frequencies of the 'A' and 'B' signals using the prominent selector dials, the hertz switches and delay/duration functions.We have since used our 'rhythm machine' in many live performances and as an installation center-piece.
The Telegraph Trigger Machine
When we were invited to install Signals at the famous York Post Office, the oldest running telegraph station and post office in Western Australia, we decided to honour the unique heritage of the site. We located a set of antique telegraph keys and built an apparatus that visitors could play to trigger sounds from signal generators in the lab.
Our talented electrical engineer (and all round Mr Fixit) Matt built the telegraph system into a wooden and perspex display box to be mounted on a plinth or bench top. The electrical energy from the triggers is converted into sound pulses which travel along wires into a gate system that opens and closes onto the outputs of any sound source in the lab.