Chirpys (Noise Crickets of The Persian Market)

For Big City Orchestra's 30th anniversary tour of Europe, I built these little guys to keep Ninah & dAs company while on the road. Plus, they used the crickets to open each show (if anyone is familiar with BCO's 30+ years long running and many varied radio show, uBradio salon, most recently weekly broadcast on DFM.nu (a webPirate radio station based in Amsterdam, Holland) with over 300 episodes so far on DFM alone, BCO typically has always opened their radio shows with the sound of crickets).

They are your typical cheap chinese electronic chirping crickets. Their stock action is to be optically triggered by opening the lid, chirping away merrily. I circuit bent it, rewiring the optical resistor to not only trigger but also optically modify the pitch. Opening the lid and closing it slightly gives subtle pitch variations and control, adding a nauseating warble to the lo-bit pseudo-cricket chirps.

The addition of googley eyes completed the creepy look.

Cute little buggers, eh?

   
   
Completed:

8/05/07

Dimensions: appx 2" x 3" x 1.5"
Current Status: Lost in Big City Orchestra's Chakra Chimp Research Station 2 in Alameda, CA.

AudioVisual Bits:

Perhaps, soon. dAs?