Relay 
An electromechanical sound object
(8″x8″x8″; wire, relays, capacitors)
This object, with all its primitive electronics laid bare for all to see, holds no secrets. Or does it?
The mechanism consists of 27 relays (electromechanical switches), grouped into two sets of 14 and 13 each. Each set is wired in a cascade: as one relay activates (with a satisfying “click“), it activates the next one, then the next — and so on down the line in quick succession, until the last one is activated. But when the last one finally engages, it releases the first, setting in motion a slow “unzipping” of the entire cascade. When the last relay is finally released, it re-engages the first, and the cycle repeats.
Because the two cascades are of different length, they fall progressively farther out of sync with each cycle. In theory, they would both come back in sync after 14×13=182 cycles but, because of random irregularities in the mechanical elements and the complexities of the shifting current load, they never quite do.
In this era of the glistening iPod, which insulates the owner from all traces of an underlying complexity, and which gives the owner the illusion of one-button mastery over his or her sonic world, I find it refreshing to encounter an object that — like this one — inhabits an entirely different realm. Its electronics are strictly 19th century. It is neither practical nor portable. It is definitely not sexy. And yet it generates sound that is compelling and unpredictable.
This object was used to make the sound of the week for 2007.03.11.
detail
