BAREMETAL contains two pieces of music, each written and burned directly to its own ATtiny85 microcontroller chip. Chip 1 sits in the socket of a player board housed in a clear cassette case. Connect a 3.5mm stereo jack to the sound system of your choice, power it on, and listen. To hear the second piece, remove Chip 1 from the socket, and replace it with Chip 2 which is stored on the antistatic foam.

Each piece is composed using the chips built-in arithmetical capacity of the Attiny85 and does not utilize any recording technology, sampling, or human performance. A new seed value is generated at every power-on, so variations between listens are expects. Results between sound systems may vary.

Edition of 25

Sample and order on bandcamp.

You can sign up for the workshop here.

We’ll be building Heron, which is a solar sounder circuit that I designed several years back as part of MONAD with Daniel Fishkin. Solar Sounders are self-powered, self contained solar powered instruments. Rather than relying on a conventional user interface to be operated by a player, the circuits reliance on solar power naturally produces changes in pitch, rhythm, timbre in response to changing levels of sun. The “piece” it plays sitting out in the sun all day, is determined by the arc of the sun, cloud cover, other shadows: you don’t play a solar sounder; you put a solar sounder outside, and the world plays it.

I’m also writing to let you know; FRINGE SOUND MONTHLY resumes this Thursday at THE MATERIAL ROOM. We have an interesting and scintillating array of acts for you that will surprise even the most adventurous listener. Hell, even I might be surprised.

Thats all for now.

Thanks

WM

I am releasing a recording of electronics online in digital form and in limited edition CDR. You can buy it here, or download the digital files for free. If you want you can also email me and I will knock a couple dollars off for an off the books transaction, or a local pickup.

Composition and arrangement was performed in part by 4 SONY Discmen with disabled skip protection allowed to pass freely through collected source material recorded 2020-2025.

Edition of 30 jewel case CDR, hand assembled and numbered.

-Printed Circuit Board art front insert, vellum tray insert and liner notes.

Transparencies pulled from MRI BRAIN W/WO CONTRAST 11/26/24 MULLANY^WILLIAM

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When I asked my surgeon what factors contributed to a tumor growing beneath my brain, behind my left eye (thinking it must have been chemical exposure of some kind), he explained that we are bombarded by radiation from space every day. There is a tiny chance that one of these rays will strike a cell, and within that, an even smaller chance that it triggers a mutation leading to cellular overgrowth. Smaller still is the chance that the body’s regulatory mechanisms fail to catch it, and the overgrowth develops into a tumor.

“A total cosmic coincidence,” he said.

I cannot say that the process of growing, identifying, removing, and recovering from a tumor was wholly pleasant. But I did find myself at times entering new “reality tunnels” (a term coined by Robert Anton Wilson that I learned only recently), in which this impossibly unlikely occurrence becomes a portal into a new reality. In the period following my diagnosis, I experienced a strange exuberance. I’m sure it was perceived as some stage of denial, but it felt instead like the leveling of petty issues and mundane worries, replaced by the stark and clarifying confrontation between survival and death, and an uncanny sense of freedom that I am able to re-inhabit on a good day.

In the wake of surgery, I could do very little beyond resting and watching my sensory system attempt to piece itself back together from within. I cannot overstate the impact of waking up to find your sensory tableau shattered, then slowly witnessing the same cells that tried to kill you performing their reconstructive work. It reveals just how fragile and error-prone the high-def sheen of consciousness really is, but also how malleable and fluid it can be, and to what ends the edges can be explored.

Much of my work with electronics has long focused on exploiting error: miswriting logic chips to produce feedback and noise, introducing unstable elements into circuits: flesh, moisture, power fluctuations. The conventional approach to electronics design hides the circuit’s raw functionality behind abstraction, polish, and convenience, giving the user only the results that align with their intention. In recent years, I’ve become obsessed with modifying one specific CD player model, the SONY Discman D-2. The modification is simple: lift one leg of an IC, severing a single connection. In the early days of portable CD players, skip protection relied on a Skip Detection system paired with a mute control, so that when playback faltered, the output was muted. By breaking this link, the output plays through uninterrupted, skips, glitches, errors, and all.

Chance procedures in music composition are hardly revolutionary, but while assembling this release I realized they are as much about forcing confrontation with the undesirable as they are about pursuing the “happy accident.” Through these unwanted encounters, the repeated presentation and metabolization of the negative, alternate “reality tunnels” can open up to you.

The core of this release was construted by loading source CDs with fragments and recordings from the past five years into my most broken Discman then violently scanning back and forth until a vision of what this music could be emerged. Enjoy.

…

also i have t shirts

1. I am teaching a Soldering workshop at Richmond-local Envelope Service, a gallery and artspace at 1609 W. Main St, on August 30 2025. Link to sign up is here. There are a limited number of slots available, so get it while it’s hot. The workshop is beginners level, will last a couple hours, and you should leave will a fully functional little synthesizer (the exact make and model of which has yet to be determined). Will also be learning some very basic concepts in electronics. Should be a fun saturday afternoon.

2. The second leg of the FRINGE SOUND MONTHLY calendar is out. FSM is a monthly show series being hosted at the material room focused on showcasing the extreme variance in experimental sound we have here in Richmond.

Any questions, give me a holler.

The second version is thinner, more robust and more compact and the enclosure consists of a single piece of hardwood carved by hand. 3.5mm jacks have replaced the original 1/4” jacks. Some improvements to the stabilities of the circuitry and backlights are included as well.

About this device:

The cerebral hemispheres of the brain are intricately connected through the corpus callosum, a thick bundle of neurons that enables constant communication and coordination between the differently functioning halves of the brain. When the corpus callosum is surgically severed, as in split-brain procedures, an intriguing phenomenon occurs: the hemispheres become functionally independent, operating as separate units with only limited information exchange.

The left hemisphere—dominant in language and analytical thinking—attempts to rationalise and construct narratives to account for actions initiated by the right hemisphere, which possesses perceptual and intuitive abilities but lacks linguistic capability. These split-brain experiments challenge our traditional understanding of the self. If the hemispheres can operate as separate entities with their own motivations and interpretations, what does this imply for our concept of personal identity? Are we truly unified beings, or a collection of disparate processes vying for control?

CPL (corporeal) CROSSTALK is a touch-based synthesiser in which two independent circuits may be allowed to interact through user touch. Each half of the synthesiser has independent power, volume, output, and parameter control for the two oscillator circuits, plus a variety of touch nodes through which the user may interfere with one or both circuits—allowing the induction of error that permeates the entire surface.

While any conductive material may be used to play the instrument, we do not recommend using anything that might directly short signals (for example, steel-wool or copper wire)

Starting next month, I’m beginning to put together a monthly night for experimental music and noise in Richmond focused on giving a rotating crew of local acts stage time and providing a meat-space meet-up for artistic/social cross-polination.

Trying to get people playing who have not had the opportunity, so if you’re reading this and live in richmond and work with experimental sound in a live setting please shoot me an email.

Thanks, hope to see you there.

-Will

Hitting the email list for the first time to let you know the first batch of a new audio processing device (colloquially referred to as a “guitar pedal”), is now available only to this email list.

I have produced a small run of these pedals (10) and will be selling them for $175 plus shipping. To buy, please respond to this email with your name and address and preferred payment method (venmo or paypal). I will send you the total and a payment link. Your order is not confirmed until payment is made.

Devices will ship immediately. There will be more available very soon.

ABOUT THE DEVICE:

Dysynthesis is a resynthesis-based fuzz processor that deconstructs the input signal and reconstructs it through a series of chaotic oscillators. The unit features a capacitive touch panel that externalizes critical circuit points, allowing the user to interact directly with the signal path. By making contact with these touch nodes, the user introduces variable resistance and capacitance, affecting circuit behavior in real time. The resulting output is a highly altered version of the original signal, characterized by nonlinear distortion, unpredictable harmonic content and general degraded sonic profile.

Watch the Demo Video for audio examples.

Control Parameters:

Knobs: Three total—one for volume control and two nonlinear "tuner" controls that adjust parameters within the resynthesis circuit.

Touch Nodes: Eight distinct points that enable direct circuit interference, allowing for a broad range of signal modulations and instabilities.

Functionality and Integration:

-Accepts both instrument and line-level signals, ensuring compatibility across various audio sources.

-Can function as an autonomous signal generator in the absence of an input signal. Direct contact with an unplugged cable’s tip acts as an additional control point.

-Conductively compatible with other Molasses Industries touch-based devices when powered by the same supply, enabling signal interaction between units.

Technical Specifications:

- Bypass Mode: True bypass

- Power Requirement: 9V DC, center-negative

- Input/Output: 1/4” TS connectors

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