Logan
Ball
Percussion
This is "AmpLe." It gets its name from essentially being an amplified table. When performing Mark Applebaum's The Metaphysics of Notation, I thought there would be no more authentic way than to create my own instrument. After all, Mark is quite well known for his instrumental creations, most notably, the Mouseketier. A video that highlights his instrument can be found here.
Images of the AmpLe can be found below!
The center table has a diameter of 28 inches, while the two outer tables have diameters of 14 inches. The 14" table to the player's left has a contact microphone attached to it. Additionally, the center 28" table has three contact microphones attached to it.
This is a front-view photo of the AmpLe (opposite from where the performer would stand).
Here is a shot of the center panel. It is 28" in diameter. For the performance in the video above, this panel held a segment of sandpaper, a bamboo placemat, a kitchen tile (painted yellow), a mousetrap (as an homage to Applebaum), a pie tin, a length of chain, a doorstop, a watering can, a scrub brush, a metal comb, four threaded rods of varying thicknesses, and one of the PVC pipes that connects with the panel on the right.
This is a photo of the 14" panel to the performer's right. I think of this as the acoustic panel, because it is the only one of the three that does not have a contact microphone attached to it. For the performance in the video above, I used a temple bowl with one of my cats' toys inside of it, a can of pink spray paint, a coffee tin with BBs, and a USB desk fan. This panel also houses the other half of the PVC hanging rack that connects with the center panel.
This is the 14" panel to the performer's left side. It contains 17 finishing nails of 2 different sizes, hammered in at different depths, as well as a doorstop. This table is amplified via contact mic and is also used as a surface on which to drop items, such as BBs. I should also say that I made the two side panels at 14" so that I could easily use snare drum stands to hold them up!
Here is an overhead shot of AmpLe. Here, you can see some of the implements I use on the instrument. These include: banjo picks, a metal comb, a scrub brush, chopsticks (painted yellow), and two thin threaded rods.
