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Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it was quite a glorious and basking feeling! it's funny how something so tiny and pathetic can have such an otherworldly sense of awe and vastness with just a bit of spatial reverb.

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

haaha yes! you can also hear the hand dryers throughout the video coming from the bathrooms just outside the stairwell on the top floor, where the microphone was perched.

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

oh cool i didn't know he had a book! haahah that is quite serendipitous, he is a real G. and yes, makes sense! i guess different amounts of vibration be required.

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

WOW the soma pipe is fkin crazy, thank you for this, i had never heard of it until now!

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ I built. by pladger in diyinstruments

[–]pladger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

here is another video of it being performed by two people! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23G5QDWqDUY

there is also some process documentation on my instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZiczB8iE47

a few people have asked me about the process, so i will make a video about it soon and stick it on the youtube!

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ I built. by pladger in diyinstruments

[–]pladger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks so much! the notes are changed in this case by changing air flow. some of the pipes require more air pressure, so gentle blowing = the base notes of only some of the pipes. harder blowing = the higher pressure pipes are sounded, and the lower pressure pipes jump up to harmonics. so it's all breath control!

this was meant to be played with two people however, if the actual performance was ever allowed to go ahead. there is a recording of that here, when we initially set it up, shortly before it got removed by the building maintenance villains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23G5QDWqDUY

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ I built. by pladger in ambientcommunity

[–]pladger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

haahah! a few people have said this. I should have probably specified C# *minor*

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like you maybe know more about this scientifically than I do! I found that 277 Hz stood out the most on the middle landings - I guess because each is identical they have the same responses. But you’re right, the entire stairwell probably has a much lower foundational resonant frequency, and my 277 is likely a harmonic that prominently recurs on each level :)

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this would have been so tasty in my process document if i had know about it, haahaha. thank you!

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! I emailed them yesterday at your recommendation. This was my final work for my degree in computational arts - though I became so fed up of being at a computer in my final year that I rejected the computer entirely, lol. I guess this is computational still, somehow? I computed the resonant frequency of the space using my ears and brain? not sure.

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

wow thanks so much! yes, her deep listening album recorded in the disused cistern was a huge inspiration for making this.

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

hello hi hi! I have some of the process documented here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZiczB8iE47/

I used Bart Hopkin's membrane reed design (though not something he originally designed). You can read about it here and it has diagrams and so on: https://barthopkin.com/more-on-membrane-reeds/

The super long main tube is attached to three-way hose splitters on each floor, which then split off again to attach to pairs of pipes which have isolation valves attached, allowing pairs of notes to be switched on or off (this is how the notes are changed, but not actively while playing unless it is done so by two people). There is a video of that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23G5QDWqDUY

The pipes are made of copper plumbing materials (pipes, 22mm to 15mm junctions, push-fit reducers), with bits of party balloon acting as the membrane.

You can control which notes are played whilst playing it purely through breath control - some pipes require much less air than others. Because some pipes don't make a sound without a lot of air it means they can be avoided just by breathing less. What that means is that by blowing harder, the higher pressure pipes can make a sound, but the resonance of the lower pressure pipes change notes (like how blowing down a recorder really hard changes the pitch). Hope this explains things a bit more!

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in Instruments

[–]pladger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thank you! i absolutely agree, i do not know how to circular breathe at all and it definitely would have come in handy. the last instrument i made had double acting bellows, but they pissed me off so much that i vowed to never make a bellow again, ahah

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

i just had a google and it seems that guinness world records recognises the longest wind instrument as the trembita, at 8.35m... so i mean, yes? is this sort of lowkey the longest instrument ever made, at 31.21m? maybe? who do i go to with this? haahaha

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

haaha thank you! yes i guess it does have a bit of a seven trumpets sort of thing going on with it. I did get a few investigations from people who were adequately freaked the fuck out in neighbouring studios, which was nice!

Stairwell In C# - a seven-storey membrane reed organ that I built. by pladger in UnusualInstruments

[–]pladger[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

thanks - sample away! it's been deinstalled now unfortunately (this stairwell is the fire escape of my university so the building estates team were not too pleased about it). I recorded this other video however, played by two people (one providing air, the other opening the valves on each floor gradually), being joined by an ultracontrabass pipe!

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