Duchamp-Harp

by

Godfried-Willem Raes

 

1973

 

In January 1974, Logos performed a collaborative project with the London based COUM group, including Genesis P.Orridge and Cosey Fanny Tutti. For that performance twelve bicycle wheels where mounted on small wooden stools. The sounds of the wheels, and in particular of the spokes, were amplified using contact microphones. Playing was with sticks, bows, vibrators, pieces of paper, rubber bands etc. The project used all of the contact microphones -all quite different types- we had available at Logos at that time. The microphones were all hooked up to a mixing desk. Thus, after the performance all microphones were removed again from the Duchamp harps, as we needed them for other pieces and projects. Here is a picture of the original COUM score, to be performed on the twelve Duchamp harps:

By 2002 only a single one one of these harps had survived, and we replaced the contact microphone with a newly build phantom powered preamp, to bring it back to 'playable' state.


Here is the circuit drawing for this preamp:

 

Technische gegevens:

 

Godfried-Willem Raes

 


First published on the web: 18.05.2019 by dr.Godfried-Willem Raes

Last update:2019-05-27