MarbleSynth is an audio piece that sends marbles down a series of non-linear tracks where the marbles interact with different materials and machines to create a variety of sounds. Each time a marble goes into the machine, it will take a different path to get to the end. In addition to producing sounds mechanically, recorded audio will also be played back through headphones in varying sequences according to the marble's path. As the marbles pass different places in the machine they will trigger switches that play different sounds in the headphones.
The piece therefore has two ways for the audience to experience the effect of the contraption: either by listening to the marbles rolling through the machine and interacting with different materials, or by listening to the electronic sounds it generates through the headphones. The contraption will be concealed in a large box to create a sense of mystery about what is making these sounds and to create a hollow body to augment the mechanical sounds. There will be two holes in the box, one on the top and the other close to the bottom on one side. The hole on the top is to input marbles and the other is the output. The marbles collect in a small pool, and in order for someone to experience my machine they must put a marble in it.
As I have been building the MarbleSynth, I have considered it to be parallel to building an instrument. When most instruments are crafted there is a lot of things to consider in terms of how sound travels through the air. I looked at the construction of different types of instruments when creating the blueprints for my instrument. Builders of Brass and woodwind instruments have to consider how air flows inside the instrument: how far, and where it comes out, among other details. My MarbleSynth has marbles traveling down different lengths of tracks and coming out at different points to mimic characteristics of brass and woodwind instruments. I have numerous percussion instruments incorporated into my project, like a xylophone and a set of wind chimes. Percussion and string instruments tend to have a hollow body to reverberate the sound throughout the instrument; because my box is fully enclosed (with an exception for a few holes), it allows the sound of the marbles to bounce around inside the box before leaving.
As an instrument, my MarbleSynth is easy to interact with; multiple people can even use it at the same time. All it takes is for somebody to drop a marble into the machine; then they are free to interpret the sound they hear, listening either through headphones or to the actual sounds of the marbles navigating the tracks.
