Treadle and Saw Set

During our residency at Fermyn Contemporary Arts we visited the Brigstock sawmill and were struck by the machinery and sounds there.  We were also amused by the saw tooth shape and metaphors of its use in modern sound synthesis.

A series of instruments that use saws was a natural progression....

The Bi-Saw oscillator (above) turns the shape of our old studio saws as an audio and as an impluse source in a synthesis system.

After completing water wheel powered '~Flow we decided to go back to foot power. 'SoundLathe' used a Treadle, and returning to this idea we  added a 'fly wheel' and began developing a series of treadle powerd devices for use in performance.   This our first prototype spins 'circular saws' that we have cut on the cnc and laser cutter.  The shaoe oif the circular saw comes from either an audio file (of white noise) or a series of sine waves, that has been mapped to the outside of the disk.

We also cut our own straight audio saws and used them in conjunction with custom software to create loops and beats.