Author & Punisher's Industrial DIY Controllers

US Mechanical engineer's one man black metal band 17/02/23

Author & Punisher is the pseudonym of Tristan Shone, a one-man band and mechanical engineer. His custom made devices are hard wearing, tough and industrial, very much like the sounds he gets out of them. In this video he gives a rig rundown for Red Bull Academy, and it's like no other rig rundown we've ever seen. Here are the details:

Inspired by his experience playing in bands and love of industrial music and doom metal, Shone writes and performs as Author & Punisher using an intricate setup of custom controllers which he designs, prototypes and builds himself. These controllers are machined in CNC (the computer numeric control), 3D-printed and powered by Arduino, open-source software and hardware that allows Shone's inventions – with names like Big Knobs and Grid Iron – to communicate with hardware instruments and software such as Ableton Live.

Beyond the practicality of enabling Shone to perform by himself, these DIY controllers are also a way for him to add a more engaging physical dimension to the MIDI controllers that have become a standard in electronic music. The result is a unique setup where Shone controls every aspect of the music manually, live. Or as he puts it, "If I'm not touching something, you're not hearing something."

You'll find a great article on him on Inverse: https://www.inverse.com/input/culture/author-punisher-tristan-shone-kruller-drone-machines-musical-equipment

Here's the live show they reference:

His website is here: https://authorandpunisher.com

About the author [midierror]: midierror makes nifty Max For Live devices, innovative music hardware, award winning sample packs and hosts a podcast speaking to people in the music world.