Springatron 3000 – awesome Slinky reverb

Music Technology

springatron3000_20081126.jpg

Braden Stadlman wrote in with a link to the Springatron 3000, a gigantic spring reverb made out of Slinky and cucumber:

This is basically a giant spring reverb made from 10 slinkys. I was trying to make the best sounding spring reverb possible, I think I achieved this but it is probably the most inconvenient spring reverb ever made. The reverb time (sustain) is so long that the springs need damping and I found that the best material for doing this is a slice of cucumber wedged under the end of each spring, other materials like foam or rubber tend to kill all the treble.

…Although it is very inconvenient as a reverb, it is very good for making horror sound effects by playing it with a violin bow.

This is just one of several DIY mechanical synths made by Nick of Nick’s World of Synthesizers.

The Springatron 3000

2 thoughts on “Springatron 3000 – awesome Slinky reverb

  1. TD says:

    Years ago I made a fun noise maker using a spring reverb coil- I connected one end to the output of an audio amp in parallel with the speaker and connected the other end back to the input of the amp. Banging on it made some great thunder-like sounds and playing with the volume control allowed some control of the feedback. It would roar, howl, and rumble like nobody’s business!

    This device using slinky’s looks great! Playing it with a bow is brilliant!

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