Say it to our face!

Contact Microphones: It All Sounds Good

June 21, 2007
Eric Leonardson's Springboard Part 2
Once you start playing with contact microphones, you never look at anything the same way again. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Eric Leonardson gives us more savory tips on how to coax music from paint stirrers and doll combs.

Watch the Gearwire video for some amazing audio, and remember: DON'T FORGET THE CELLO BOW.
Presenter: Eric Leonardson, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Gretchen Hasse is a media producer for Gearwire, and she likes junk.


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I'm really liking some of the new material here, GW

By: Kath
I like to play with sound, and have visited this site in the past to see if I could find more information about exactly the type of thing that Eric Leonardson is doing - capturing the music of the ordinary. I'm so glad to finally see some coverage of experimental approaches to music making. The bubble organ thing is the coolest! Keep it up, GW!
Wed, 2007-07-11 16:11

Hi Kath, I'm glad you

By: Eric
Hi Kath, I'm glad you enjoyed Aaron's bubble organ. It's gratifying to know that others appreciate my unorthodox approach. If you're interested finding out more, my website is http://ericleonardson.org Thanks so much!
Wed, 2007-08-15 18:10

awsome sounds

By: Anonymous Coward
Eric. it is amazing the complex sounds and compositions you are able to produce from such ordinary materials. Excellent work!
Wed, 2007-07-18 12:37

Thanks!

By: Eric
Thanks!
Wed, 2007-08-15 18:12

Hans Reichel and his Daxophone

By: Mikka
Hello, Eric! I have seen on your page that you are familiar with Hans Reichel and his work but for others I would just like to add a short note. As a guitar player and guitar builder Hans "invented" the Daxophone in late 80s. Basically it's just a wooden stick fixed to a contact microphone box and played with a bow or being struck. He also uses a piece of wood called "dax" to change the pitch of the sound. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Reichel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daxophone I can recommend his album Shanghaied on Tor Road: http://www.fmp-label.de/fmplabel/catalog2/fmpcd046.html Eric, I like your home-made "daxo" board with all these different objects which cover quite a wide range in the spectrum of naturally non-ordinary sounds :) Take care and lots of happy musical hours, Mikka
Mon, 2007-10-08 12:36

What kind of contact mic do

By: jyotix

What kind of contact mic do you recomment?
Thank you jyotix

Tue, 2008-02-26 11:03

that would have to be a d

By: jyotix

that would have to be a d ofcourse!

Tue, 2008-02-26 11:04

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