Volume 1
A Day That Will Never Happen Again: A rhythm generator that changes every day.
Volume 2
Here You Are, You Are Here: A synthesiser that sounds different depending on where you are.
Volume 3
Everything You Love Will One Day Be Taken From You: A listening device that slowly and permanently destroys a sound every time it plays back.
The original Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by Al-Jazari is available for purchase digitally or physically from Springer. The Wikipedia page on Al-Jazari is also well worth reading and contains fantastic images.
All of the instruments create sound using the free open-source visual programming language Pure Data, which can be downloaded here.
The physical instruments were built from 15mm birch plywood and the designs were direct printed onto the wood. The designs and plans for the boxes are available to download here.
I would love to see anything you make with these resources, and I am happy to help answer any questions you may have. Just get in touch on twitter or email.
