The machine is built by the two of us. It is a never-ending project that we have been working on since 2012. Some of the instruments are robots that play themselves, others are new instruments we play by hand. Everything is connected with our own electronics and code.
Robots that play
A slide bass, a keyboard, drums and a xylophone, driven by motors and solenoids. They play faster and more precisely than a person can.
Played by hand
A wind synth that plays chords, gloves that control the effects, salvaged springs and a synthesizer worn on the arm.
Fire & light
Flamethrowers fire in sync with the music, and lamps on the instruments blink with the notes.
The robots
These instruments play themselves.
The Robotic Slide Bass
A four-string bass played by sliders and picks on motors.
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The Automated Keyboard
A keyboard with an actuator under every key.
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Mechanic Drum Ensemble
Drum, tambourine, cabasa and frog guiro, played by actuators and solenoids.
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The Autonomous Xylophone
A xylophone with a solenoid for every bar.
ExplorePlayed by hand
Instruments we built to play ourselves. They are full of sensors and run through our own sound engines.
The Aeolynth
A wind synth with touch keys that can play chords.
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Sound Gloves
Gloves that control the live effects wirelessly.
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SynthArmor
A synthesizer worn on the arm, played with breath, buttons and knobs.
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The Springs
Salvaged springs, amplified and played as percussion.
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The Sonimba
A kalimba with pickups, sensors and live processing.
ExploreHow it started
In 2012 Sofie and I had just finished our cabaret show, Cuckoo’s Nest Cabaret, a mix of slapstick, surrealism and sound effects. We didn’t know what to do next, so we wrote a list of everything the two of us could do. Halfway down the list we had the idea: a music machine on wheels, with Sofie on a spinning podium on top and me as the organ grinder, cranking out music on homemade instruments.
Sofie started sketching costumes straight away. Much of how Tromleorkestret looks comes from her.
The wagon
We built a wagon and started playing in the streets. It had three cuckoo doors: behind one was a stuffed mouse in a top hat, behind another a rat in race-driver gloves, and behind the third a bird.
The wagon kept growing. First a slide bass, then robotic drums, then flamethrowers.
Learning robotics
At some point the machine needed more robotics and mechanics than I knew. So I enrolled at DTU to study robotics engineering. I built the robotic slide bass during my studies, and it is still a central part of the machine.
Today
Today the machine has robotic instruments, instruments we play by hand, gloves that control the sound, and fire. Sofie designs the costumes and the look of the machine. It still creaks and argues back now and then, and we are still building on it.
