Spring Thing V2

From the Archives - Originally posted Mar. 19, 2008

Some of you may remember my Spring Thing project from last fall. You may also recall that I wasn't too pleased with the finished product, because the contact mic failed to accurately reproduce the spring sounds.

Last weekend I decided to make a few modifications to the instrument, in an effort to breath some new life into it as a performance piece. I have to say that I'm really pleased with the results.

What I ended up doing is building resonating chamber on the back of the instrument. This performs the dual purpose of amplifying the sound of the springs for the sake of ambient micing, and also provides more bulk to actually vibrate, and thus improving the performance of the contact mic. I also took the opportunity to reinforce the stand, since it was starting to get a tad wobbly.

Close-up of the hole under the springs.

One view of the resonating chamber.

Another view of the resonating chamber.

Looking down the chamber. That's the contact mic taped to the inside.

The stand.