Electronic instruments, mechanical sculptures, robots etc. by David Cranmer

About / commissions / contact

Eurorack modules for sale
Phonograph controlled by space debris
Cluckminster Fuller
House full of musical objects for Heineken
4m high diesel powered robot
Mechanical gramophone for Aero
Giant LED lungs
Homemade modular synth
The Rave Kestrel
Radioactive xylophone
Machine with motorised rubber ducks
Special effects for Clean Bandit pop promo
Control of hundreds of singing & dancing toys
Customised ticklish car modified for Toyota
Ferrofluid controlled by
live musicians for HP
Thousands of balloons popped in time to music
Exploding neon & air cannons for Pizza Hut
Laser window rig for the Chemical Brothers
The Alpaca Sound System!
Giant mechanical crow
Lawn mower rig for the Chemical Brothers
Custom PCBs for WWF
Synth creatures
Golf ball cannon
Robotic wheelie bins
Mechanical
crocodile head
Resonator system
Trailer synth
Custom synth
Chladni plate cymatics experiments
Interactive lungs
Interactive carousel
Flying shoes for Allbirds
Laser harp
Valve system for
shot dispenser
LED suit for Adidas
Laser projection
effects for Mini
Wall mounted
custom synthesiser
Ping pong cannons and other craziness for Sony
Electromechanical butterflies for O2
Custom pyramid synths
for the Horrors
The Badgermin
Mechanical octopus sculptural commission
Interactive bus for
Ted Baker Tokyo store
The Calculator Orrery
Pneumatic / electronic
head inflating system
LED light sculpture for
live on stage visuals
Programmable guitar
pickup winding machine
Penguin drummer robot
with chainsaw engine
Copper coils to teach children cool stuff
Pig
Musical stepladders
Big pink LED bunny sculpture for Duracell
Robotic paintball system
for Frieze Art Fair
Owl theremin
Huge fibreglass train for AC/DC world tour
Spontaneous wooden
man & flamethrower
Musical ship's wheel
synth for Mucky Sailor
Circular light rig for
XL Recordings
Timed objects dropped
into pool for Samsung
Audio tape and rc car installation at the RFH
Huge undulating LED sculpture for Roca
49 chromatically tuned birds - the Owl Organ
Banana machine
Chandelier for Liberty
with awful gold paint
Ralph the Robot
The Furby Gurdy
Synth collaboration
with Pete Fowler
Gong speaker
Theremin speaker
Marble lift for
Isobel and Helen
Percussion mechanisms
Audio LEDs for
Frazer Merrick
Exploring hydraulics
LED sculpture metalwork
for Marcus Lyall
Emergency rotary
damper retrofit
Real ring modulators
- order one today!
Electromagnetic
resonator system
Merge Festival audio dodgem installation
Interactive periscopes for Google / Android
Installation to convert data into smoke rings
Clockwork brain
Musical machines for Southern Comfort
Lightbulb brain

Get in touch if you need anything:

1st November 2024

Motorised owl hat

23rd September 2024

New project: restoration of a beautiful 1957 Bedford turntable ladder fire engine

27th August 2024

Mike Harrison's high voltage Destruct-o-tron / synth jam 2024

21st April 2024

Ondes Martenot "palme" speaker for Charlie Draper

12th April 2024

Treadmill control system for Matter SFX

4th April 2024

Surface scuffing mechanism for Will Muir Llia

21st March 2024

Hydrogen engine training rig for Delphi Technologies

28th January 2024

Frazer Merrick's Time Quest project has launched! An amazing interactive audiovisual installation at Battersea Arts Centre, London. Details of my involvement with the electronic elements here.

31st August 2023

Some friends visited...

7th June 2023

Eurorack synthesiser modules now available to purchase - join the mailing list for future updates!

26th March 2023

The most stylish and practical hat you're ever likely to see

26th January 2023

Support this exciting new project! The video shows the base unit in action, but there is a lot more planned. The next phase is well under way, but needs more stepper motors and at least four worm drive gearboxes. Any donations towards the cost would be hugely appreciated.

Anyone kind enough to donate GBP £10 or more can have their name printed somewhere on the robot. The robot will make many public appearances, so you'll get plenty of chances to see it.

Click the PayPal button to help today!

8th January 2023

Interactive lungs, involving fibreglass and electronics

12th December 2022

Modified Beatstep Pro - make your own, drawings here!

1st December 2022

A lawn mower rig for the Chemical Brothers, a pentagonal carousel, some design consultancy for Dan Jones, and a transducer system to play music through your bones.

14th November 2022

Some unusual PCBs for WWF

1st November 2022

Audio LED system for Frazer Merrick

9th October 2022

Photos and video of a visit to see the amazing Henry Dagg - polymath engineer, inventor, musician, composer etc.

13th October 2022

Golf ball cannon for Shutterstock

31st August 2022

Bank holiday party...

20th August 2022

Working on some exciting projects at the moment, but have also just uploaded some old photos here, from when I worked at a special effects company called Machine Shop.

26th May 2022

The Ore-Some Xylophone will be at EMF Festival next week - do pop by and say hello!

I will also be giving a talk on Friday 3rd, 3:40pm, stage B

21st April 2022

Video with Sound on Sound magazine:

18th February 2022

Robotic wheelie bins for the Bureau of Silly Ideas

10th January 2022

nervoussquirrel.com on BBC news

1st December 2021

Trailer synth! Click here!

14th September 2021

Details of some smaller projects now uploaded:

Mechanical glasses, shot dispensing valve, custom enclosures, emergency rotary damper retrofit, phone spinning rig and a sensor / audio playback system

5th September 2021

New home for the alpaca sound system! Plus a short video with lasers.

5th September 2021

Chladni plate cymatics experiments

4th September 2021

Crocodile head mechanism for S2 Events

3rd September 2021

Some wonderful friends visited last weekend - here's a few bits from the party...

16th August 2021

A couple of interesting replica speaker systems for thereminist / ondist Charlie Draper. An imposing theremin diamond speaker and an ondes Martenot métallique.

13th July 2021

Sneak preview of upcoming big project! Lots of welding.

10th November 2020

Just finished a commercial for Allbirds, featuring some flying shoes

6th September 2020

The Owl Organ has been refurbished!

30th August 2020

Just had a visit from Sam of Look Mum No Computer, and spent a great few days going to car boot sales, staying up late, making electronic noises and wiring up owls...

12th August 2020

A wonderful video demonstrating modular synth polyphony

21st July 2020

20 Thomas Henry X-4046 voltage controlled oscillators now complete

18th June 2020

A series of unusual musical devices: the Synth Creatures

5th JUNE 2020

Quite a while since I've done an interview, but recently had a nice chat with Ben & Ed - listen here...

11th February 2020

Making oil go down pipes to cause things to happen...

28th August 2019

Giant chicken! Details here!

1st July 2019

Custom synth for Yoot Music...

4th June 2019

LED sculpture for Marcus Lyall...

15th March 2019

Working on loads of projects recently, but still waiting for at least 4000 of them to be publicly announced!

In the meantime here's a laser harp system that was shipped to Dublin earlier today...

13th December 2018

Currently working on an interesting collaboration with top thereminist Charlie Draper. During a visit this week we plugged the CV outputs of a Moog Etherwave Pro into the modular - video on the synth page...

13th November 2018

Some great progress with the modular synth recently, including two new modules by Mutable Instruments. The build process has been documented here...

4th September 2018

Just finished making a huge diesel powered robot - details here!

3rd September 2018

A spectacular mechanical gramophone and dancing chocolate for Aero!

2nd July 2018

Clockwork brain

29th May 2018

Just back from a few days making a lot of noise in a field! Massive thanks to everyone who came and jumped around in front of the Alpaca Sound System.

7th March 2018

Logo lightbox

26th February 2018

Interactive periscopes for Google / Android

2nd January 2018

Cloud handles

3rd December 2017

Bulb brain

8th November 2017

A complex steel frame and programmable LEDs for a breathtaking new sculpture...

29th August 2017

Great to see everyone over the weekend! A new portable sound system was unveiled...

23rd August 2017

Musical posters and furniture with built in lights and touch sensors, connected to speakers mounted in beer crates - a promotion for Heineken

11th June 2017

A specially commissioned machine to generate truly random compositions using a lump of uranium ore - now at the Dublin Science Gallery until 24th September.

11th May 2017

Audio dodgems for Merge Festival 2017

29th April 2017

Just back from Portugal - a fantastic job for Sony involving building a machine that can fire over 1000 ping pong balls in about 5 seconds. Also involving some upside-down humans. More details