Motor noise becomes the playable voice in this mechanical sound instrument, giving performers a raw source that sits between music hardware, sound-design device, and art object. Its production design is being developed by The Sound of Machines with Chris McDowell and his studio Lunch, preserving the prototype’s unusual character while moving toward a durable limited-run instrument.
The finished design is planned to work both as a raw mechanical sound source and as a standalone instrument with onboard effects. Separate dry and wet outputs will provide the unaffected motor signal and the processed signal, while USB-C communication will let its controls send MIDI to software effects, plug-ins, and other parameters.
A dual-mode momentary mute control will either cut an active signal briefly or keep the instrument silent until pressed for short bursts of sound. Spinner 1 remains a prototype, with availability targeted for December 2026 and final pricing still undetermined.
