The Difference Engine

This device was created for a children's theatre show of the same name which took place in the Gothic courtyards of Manchester Town Hall in July 2009. The original Difference Engine - a proto-computer - was designed in the mid 1800's by Charles Babbage, who was also renown for his titanic distaste of street musicians and their mechanical instruments, so it was a logical step to fabricate this device in his honour.

It's in three sections.

INPUT + The Engine : This comprises an 8x8 step-sequencer matrix of rotating cams, which when hand-cranked energise a simple lever hammer. The hammer in turn is released onto a suspended percussive resonator which creates the sound data for the calculation.

PROCESS + Bubble Chambers : By means of a Harmonic Harvester, the acoustic pressure waves are sucked into the calculating chambers before being encoded onto a linear memory register. This information is then transmitted to the acoustic output stage.

OUTPUT + B of the Bang : An array of 29 organ pipes is used to express the resolved calculation as a musical phrase.

Here's a video of the device in the show, though for some reason Matt edited out the section with all the pipes sounding...

'The Difference Engine' - A Steampunk Adventure for Boys and Girls.

Manchester International Festival 2009

Devised by Cast & Crew  |  Produced by Walk the Plank  |  Directed by Thingamujig Theatre