I built the Ealing Feeder as I wanted to play complex, algorithmic patterns at speeds beyond the envelope of human performance. And I wanted those patterns to be played by something tangible, rather than by a sample library on a laptop. I’m interested in the way this machine spatialises sound and has subtle irregularities in timing, as its made from moving, sprung parts. I find these attributes very appealing sonically – and I think they would be very hard to mimic with a sample library.

The Ealing Feeder is a gigging instrument and a central part of my current live set. While I perform on other instruments, I trigger it to play automatically using software I’ve created in Max. This instrument has been through many versions. Originally I made it as an outdoor exhibit as part of a commission to celebrate the re-opening of The Royal Festival Hall. I then mounted it in a lightbox for the Kinetica exhibition. Since then, I’ve stripped it down to the essential moving parts and mounts to make an instrument that will fit into a flightcase. In 2021, I am planning to rebuild it from scratch to give it a few more years of life.

Here are two examples of the Ealing Feeder in action. Part-way through Camberwell Beauty, you can hear the instrument perform a ‘double’. This is an algorithm I’ve created to play an echo of any note, on the half-beat, a set interval above the original. The double creates a haze of metallic sound. There is also a variant of the double at work throughout Needle.