Output details

Dirty Electronics Mute Synth - A portfolio consisting of a hand-held synthesiser distributed internationally by Mute Records. Additional materials in the form of audio recordings, video documentation, articles and text have been provided to support this output.

The Mute Synth is a hand-held touch and tilt instrument with copper etched artwork and contoured printed circuit board. It is part generative with an inbuilt sequencer/pulser, and running the fingers over the graphical circuit board and using the conductivity of the skin controls different parameters of the instrument. The Mute Synth brings together many Dirty Electronics aesthetics and instrument designs into one device in particular creating an instrument ‘of the hand’ (in terms of both playing and building), a noise-based device that utilises feedback, and exploring the relationship between artwork and circuit board. The Mute Synth was commissioned by Mute Records for the Short Circuit Festival, Roundhouse, London, 2011, and subsequently distributed internationally. The additional material accompanying the outcome is included to emphasise the research is not just the instrument, and to demonstrate a broader paradigm.

The research imperative of the Mute Synth was to consider the dissemination of a musical idea other than through recorded fixed media, explore the intersection between sound object and artwork etching, and provide a catalyst for participatory events/workshops and collaborate performance pieces. The ‘musical’ parameters are set by the design of the instrument, and this is where composition meets physical sound object. The user therefore has freedom to explore the instrument within a prescribed context. The Mute Synth and the collaboration with Mute Records is an original contribution to defining musical ‘product’ within the record industry. The Mute Synth is a statement against MPEG culture and places an onus on active participant rather than passive consumer. Dirty Electronics’ events and the Mute Synth offer a significant contribution in the field of participatory art. The graphical artwork for the printed circuit board was done in collaboration with Adrian Shaughnessy, graphic designer, author and senior lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London.