Radiohead has reintroduced contemporary listeners to the sound of the Ondes Martenot. One of the most interesting aspects of that instrument is its “metallic diffuser” which is, as I understand it, a speaker coil with a gong clamped to the business end. So… having a Dayton Audio Sound Exciter, masking tape, and Honeytone practice amplifier I decided to tape my sound exciter to my 22″ wind gong and see what happened. The set is guitar => MXR Distortion+ => Honeytone amp => sound exciter taped to gong => air => Zoom H2 recording the resulting oddly resonant and distorted sound. Playing this set up was unusual because the inharmonicity of the gong made odd notes ring out or be suppressed.
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