Unconventional Soundscapes: A Conversation with Instrument Designer Kunsf
A Conversation with Instrument Designer Kunsf on their creative journey, work process and uncanny world of piezo discs, sensors and speculative design.
We had the wonderful opportunity to catch up with Kuntay Seferoglu (aka Kunsf) and have deep dive into their creative journey, work process and wonderful world of piezo discs, sensors and speculative design.
Q: Who are you?
I'm Kuntay Seferoglu (aka Kunsf). I'm an instrument designer, media artist and experimental musician from Istanbul. I'm always in the pursuit of new sounds and new ways to make sounds. Nowadays I'm reading a lot about cybernetics and exploring materials like latex and tin(solder).
Q: Can you share your creative journey from where you started until where you are now?
It all started in a speculative design course in my second year of uni. The studio's theme that semester was electricity. We had one workshop about soldering and basic electronics. The requirement to pass the studio was to design and produce an object that works with electricity. Those days I was very much into music and decided to make an instrument. S.S.M. 3000 was the result and starting point of my journey in instrument design. It is a turntable/synth hybrid that could turn vinyls freely in any direction & speed (without 33, 45, or 75 rpm limitations) and a FM synthesizer with on-board speakers. Here I was introduced to circuit-making, especially audio circuits.
Next semester I made another instrument, then another... I was just making instruments in every studio. It was really fun. Then came the final project which I made Morph . Although I was getting confident with soldering and building circuits, Morph was a big leap because it was mainly a digital circuit. There I learned PureData (an open-source visual node-base program for audio processing) and dealing with digital sensors.
After Morph, the world was a playground to make sound of. I like piezos incredibly much. Everything is an instrument, if you play them. Stick a piezo and amp it up! So I started exploring some materials like wood and metals in my teacher's workshop after graduation. He teached my how to hammer metal and carve wood. Those days I was experimenting with acoustic sound makers like bells and rods.
When corona happened, I started to upcycle things in the house like coat hangers and old phones. After corona I was just making things just for the sake of it. Just experimenting with mediums or was starting after what if there would be something like this. I went to Berlin to study at UdK (Art and Media). While I was there, I was not comfortable enough to make new instruments (lack of funds, lack of time and space). My armbands were the only instruments I brought with me. While I was there I focused on them because they were easy to carry around (in Berlin you move houses a lot.) It was a great limitation that made me improve my max/msp skills. I was mainly participating in generative arts class which was mostly coding and music. People I met in Berlin, the conversations, collaborations, events and exhibitions had a huge impact on me today.
When I turned back for a semester break I got my own 3d-printer. Feedback Machine was the first product of it. It came out of an experiment with a delay chip(PT2399). I loved how chaotic and simple it was and started designing it. Made 10 of them and sold 9. Surprisingly one to one of my favorite ambient artists (machinefabriek, made me super happy). But design-wise I was not very happy. I don't like instruments to be in some kinds of boxes. Always thought they could look much more interesting. After the Feedback Machine it was time to get out of the box. I went back to Berlin and started experimenting with latex a lot. I was just playing around making little creatures and props for performances with it. Then came Sniffr and XenoChord as children of those experiments. I'm very happy with where I am right now and thinking about expanding this world of aliens for some time.
Can you share a little bit about the technical side of developing your projects? What kinds of processes and tools do you work with? (Software, techniques, etc.)
It really depends on which kind of instrument I'm building. If it's digital then I'm either using Pure Data or Max/Msp. They are basically the same program, PD is the open-source version, I have to use if the instrument is running on Linux (ie. Bela). Most of the magic happens in these patches.
In PD there is one project I used a lot when I was not so fluent, called Automatonism which is a modular synth that has basically everything in ready to use modules. But after some time, I started writing my own synthesis/processing chains because some of these modules were taking too much CPU.
Piezo instruments are pretty straightforward:
Solder a piezo to female audio jack. The way I remember wiring is that the red cable is the heart (which is inside), black cable is the shell (outside).
Find(make) an object that sounds good.
Stick a piezo on it.
I use Blender or Rhinoceros for 3D modelling & Davinci for video editing.
What are a few learnings you would like to share with regards to how you approach these projects
Silicone is your friend!
Covering circuits with hot glue(silicone) protects them from contact problems, cables getting ripped, external damage and even makes it water-resistant (if you cover it well). It does not break the circuit. Apply when the circuit is done and fully functioning. Beware that there is no turning-back! You can get creative with forming it since it's an additive process. (Only downside with this method is that the circuit becomes un-hackable.)
Don't hide the circuit!
Why hide the circuits when you can lick your finger and affect the sound by touching it directly, adding an additional feature. Also it's nice to share your circuit, people can get inspired or make their own if they want to. It becomes more accessible and more hackable.
Make cables artful!
Cables are an opportunity to make your instrument more interesting and colorful. Instead of hiding I propose designing them. They could be artful.
Open-source everything!
I learned nearly everything from the internet, by those cool people sharing their circuits, patches, techniques and all kinds of information. People could contribute to your project, it could even lead to a community. Sharing is caring, you know.
Can you recommend a few resources (links, books, videos, projects) that has peaked your curiosity recently
Had the chance to attend the chaos communication congress last year, it was a life-changing experience. They upload all the talks, definitely recommend checking out, there might be something that you'll like.
Amazing youtube channel if you want to start making instruments: https://www.youtube.com/@SoundSimulator
Recent big inspirations: https://www.postorganic-bauplan.com/en/works
Currently reading : (Cybernetics for the 21st Century Vol. 1: Epistemological Reconstruction - Yuk Hui)
Recent fav movie: Crimes of the Future - David Cronenberg
Recent fav album :
(QWERTY - Saya Gray)