Swedish audiovisual artist Love Hultén has a knack for designing wondrous imaginary retro-themed contraptions of amusement. His latest creation – the VOC-25 is no exception, a conceptual vocal synthesizer based on the Axoloti Core and 25 sets of plastic teeth, each set representing a unique note on the keyboard.
Inspired by the concept work of Simone Giertz, the VOC-25 offers a passing semblance to that of a desktop computer…after a bad acid trip. A monitor, main console and keyboard outfitted with a display of chattering teeth operate in chorus with results every bit as horrifying and hilarious as you might expect:
The aural onslaught is produced with RAW vocal audio samples fed into the main console via USB, where each “voice” is stored within a personal voice bank and can be further manipulated using a pair of built-in effects, reverb and delay. The wooden setup operates with built-in speakers, but is also outfitted with mono outputs on the back for improved performance, reducing the mechanical noise that one might guess would come with twenty-five chattering teeth.
Every dentist office’s front desk should have one of these “computers.”
The one-off project won’t see the light of day as a consumer product, but for those interested in making their own VOC-25, Love Hultén reveals he used an Axoloti board and 25-key keyboard for MIDI input/output, with custom-built boards with 25 individual solenoids handling the choir effect, each one connected to a set of hinged teeth. More detailed instructions – sans beautifully modern case design – can be found over at maker/roboticist
Simone Giertz’s YouTube channel.
Gregory Han is Tech Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.
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