The Musical Electronics Library (or MEL) is a
lending library of homemade electronic musical devices in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
and
Wellington,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, and is a worldwide leader in the Scavengetronica movement.
The library contains
electrolytic capacitor
An electrolyte is a substance that conducts electricity through the movement of ions, but not through the movement of electrons. This includes most soluble Salt (chemistry), salts, acids, and Base (chemistry), bases, dissolved in a polar solven ...
s, rampwave
oscillators,
white noise generators, light
theremins,
sample and holds,
ring modulators,
preamplifiers,
pitch shifters,
phasers, and
mixers; mostly built inside repurposed
VHS cases.
Highlights of the collection include the "electric bee motorcycle sound-maker box", a device which emulates the sound of
meowing cats inside a
Cats VHS box, and "
Mad Max" which has been described as "
Merzbow in a box".
MEL is run by volunteers and curated by musician and device-builder
Kraus. The library was inspired by the work of
Nicolas Collins and
Bob Widlar. Musicians using equipment from MEL include Hermione Johnson, Kraus, Pumice, Diana Tribute,
Samuel Flynn Scott, the MEL Orchestra, Piece War,
Ducklingmonster,
the Biscuits, Powernap,
Herriot Row, and Chronic Fatigue Sindrome.
The library has been running
synthesizer-building workshops around New Zealand.
MEL also co-hosts an open weekly
maker night with the
Auckland University of Technology where projects are developed in a collaborative environment.
Kraus stated in a
New Zealand Listener interview that "doing any kind of community project like this for me is a political thing - of self-organisation and encouraging people to take control of their lives, instead of just being a consumer, buying something someone else has made, or some robots in China. The kind of empowerment that comes from learning a new skill is a really powerful thing."
He said in NZ musician magazine that he wants "to emphasise the idea of sharing and also reducing waste through re-using things and giving seemingly broken or out of date things a new purpose."
The library started in Auckland and 2014 and opened a Wellington chapter in 2016.
Gallery
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References
External links
Musical Electronics Library blogMusical Electronics Library Auckland microblogMusical Electronics Library Auckland inventoryMusical Electronics Library Wellington inventoryDocumentary on MEL
{{Authority control
Electronic music organizations
Libraries in Auckland
Karangahape
Organisations based in Auckland
Libraries in Wellington
Music organisations based in New Zealand
Underground culture
Hackerspaces
DIY culture
Tool libraries
Music libraries