Brian Leach.
Composer - Musician - Sound Artist
Electro-Mechanical Gong
Made in 2022 with support from the Arts Council Agility Award, This instrument was made from scrap metal and salvaged timber. A transducer fixed to the metal plate allowed it to be used as a plate reverb unit, but the real magic happened when I pointed a live mic at it.
The feed back loop allowed me to "paint" the sound onto the instrument. Many different tones were produced by pointing the mic at different points on the plate. It is also capable of producing rich drone sounds.
This instruments became the focal point for my composition "The Case for a Longer Minute" (2022). The piece and the instrument itself are concerned with climate change, the EM Gong being made entirely from salvage scrap (except for some screws), and the piece advocating a 61 second minute to encourage a slower pace of life and less consumption.
The EM Gong, 2022, Steel, Teak, Oak, Larch, Cat 5 Cable, 110 x 110 x 50cm
Examples of the sounds available from this new musical instrument.
Soundcheck of the Electromechanical Gongs before a performance at Outlaw Studios.
Experimenting with 3 Gongs going at once.
This iteration used a cymbal as a speaker - Martin Hayes plays.
Cleaning the scrap metal found in the farm yard at Crithir - A performance in its self!