Listen to a Rock Band Made of Actual Rocks

Two years ago, Neil Mendoza created a robotic orchestra out of sixteen knives and a meat cleaver to perform the Bee Gees hit “Stayin’…

Hackster Staff
7 years agoMusic

Two years ago, Neil Mendoza created a robotic orchestra out of sixteen knives and a meat cleaver to perform the Bee Gees hit “Stayin’ Alive.” And today, he has literally turned a bunch of rocks into a rock band to cover another classic, “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles.

Mendoza’s latest project — which was created as part of Autodesk’s artist in residence program — consists of electromechanical instruments that produce music by firing rocks at aluminum keys via solenoids, launching magnetic rocks at pieces of marble using Applied Motion stepper motors, slapping stones with fake leather, and vibrating a solenoid’s plunger against some marble.

Everything is controlled by a computer running a MIDI player written in openFrameworks, which communicates with a Teensy board. You can listen to the band’s awesome recreation of George Harrison’s iconic song below, and check out Mendoza’s entire tutorial here.

Hackster Staff
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