The Springboard is an electroacoustic coil spring instrument built in 1994 to explore the sonic potential of coil springs among any other kind of readily available materials and objects. Their vibrations are amplified by a single, very affordable piezo disc contact microphone to create extraordinary sounds that belie their humble origin.
This web page concentrates on the Springboard, though I have made and perform with other experimental musical instruments. Two articles about the Springboard were published in Leonardo Music Journal, Issue 17 and eContact! You can also find my instrument mentioned in the book and accompanying DVD,Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking by Nicolas Collins.
This page provides more images and text about the Springboard, and will soon this page offers useful links to sources and materials for making contact microphones and your own similar instruments.
This series of videos on the Gearwire site is one in a series demonstrating the Springboard's construction and sounds. The videos embedded here below were made in 2006 for YouTube channel:
