the tocante line of musical instruments is "about" and "touching" the materials of electronics. each touchpad represents a pitch according to industry "preferred numbers," chosen by old wartime engineers for
non-musical purposes. here they form a unique and haunting musical scale, not unlike that of a gamelan or the neutral intervals of persian music. beyond these base pitches, three golden sandrodes flank each
touchpad; touching these androgynous nodes yields intermodulation, pitch and timbral shifts, and emergent chaotic masses. the instruments come in three flavors: thyris the triangle, bistab the square, and
phashi the circle. the oscillators sound like a bowed string, a most powerful clarinet, and a howling serene whistle, respectively. each responds to touch differently. solar panels charge the onboard batteries,
that power the oscillators and a speaker. they are the perfect self-contained instrument for nightly music at the campground.
specifications:
dimensions: 28x8x2 centimeters.
range: 24 notes, four octaves.
power: 6x300mah nimh cells.
diffusion: 0.5watt speaker.
output: 3.5mm mono audio jack.
cloudy day: 2.1mm tip-positive 12vdc power jack
