Sputter + Trace
Scratch, scrape, groan, growl, clatter.
Organic electroacoustic instruments for crafting gestural, tactile soundscapes.
Made by hand from Arkansan cedar, Sputter and Trace are electroacoustic instruments for tactile, gestural sound design. Use them as solo instruments, in combination with external effects, or as part of a larger instrumental setup, adding a touch of the forest into your music and sound design.
Sputter and Trace are two similar, yet distinct instruments designed for gestural, organic sound design and music-making. Each features a hollow chamber with a wooden surface amplified via an embedded contact microphone with a standard 1/4” unbalanced output.
Complementary Characters
Trace features an all-cedar construction, allowing access to the pure sound of an amplified wooden surface. It is perfect for airy, delicate sweeps, hollow clacks, and forceful knocking—and of course, it can be used as a general-purpose amplification tool for any object placed on its surface.
Sputter instead features an amplified wooden surface covered in a layer of silicone, enabling friction-driven groans, squeaks, squeals, and growls. Of course, its sides still allow access to some of Trace’s more wooden sonorities.
Sputter and Trace each come in one of two sizes—6x6” or 10x10”. Each is capable of a wide range of sounds, of course—though the larger surfaces of the 10x10” models permit a wider range of motion, allowing for longer continuous sweeps and gurgles.
Sputter and Trace are built by hand from locally-sourced cedar in rural Arkansas. Inspired by Hans Reichel’s daxophone, each features a unique appearance and unique sound quality—the result of natural variation in the trees from which they are created.
These instruments come to life directly in response to user interaction, and as such, they offer a wide range of dynamics and timbres. They are excellent tools for free improvisation, contemporary percussion performance, studio sound design, and more. Use them in combination with external effects, as solo instruments, as part of a larger setup, or even to amplify other objects. They are a perfect way to add your own touch—be it soft, forceful, delicate, or spastic—into any musical workflow.
