• Electronic engineer/robot-musician conductor Moritz Simon Geist performs at the SXSW Innovation Awards. Nathan Mattise
  • Unlike other electronic/techno artists, Geist is obsessed with tactile instruments—he just builds them from old tech parts and then builds rigs to automate 'em. Nathan Mattise
  • Some of Geist's robots are based on the simplest of DIY instruments, like a set of toned water glasses. Nathan Mattise
  • During performances, Geist serves as conductor—he initiates various instruments/bots he has built and then occasionally bangs out rhythms on a MIDI controller to queue other noises. Nathan Mattise
  • Geist chats up Ars during some SXSW downtime. Nathan Mattise
  • Some of Geist's press photos let you see more of his creations than being in the audience during a performance allows. David Campesino / MagnumPR
  • Here's the Ikea-ish set of shelves hosting various glitch robots Geist created. D. Pinzer / MagnumPR
  • Sparks on demand used to rhythmic effect. David Campesino / MagnumPR
  • Motorized chugs and clangs utilizing old tech hardware. David Campesino / MagnumPR

AUSTIN, Texas—If you find Moritz Simon Geist's "Entropy" on Spotify, you might think nothing of it. The song is built upon repetitive, droning phrases that layer upon each other in ways you can't help but move your head to. Along with the rest of the tracks on The Material Turn, it wouldn't be out of place as deep cuts in the DFA Records catalogue, but they're less obviously electronic—no soaring synths or flourishes of rhythmic glitches here. Instead, "Entropy" has that breathy groove of an early song from The XX along with an overall industrial aesthetic like what music fans loved about Nine Inch Nails. "Entropy" is a dance track, but sinister, something that could soundtrack a highly stylized sci-fi flick or a dungeon level in a cool side scroller.

All that to say, Moritz Simon Geist wrote a catchy song. But what makes this remarkable is—unlike Hot Chip or Trent Reznor or whoever—Geist's music doesn't start from a synthesizer or emanate from his computer. He's "the world's only techno producer playing entirely with his self-made futurist robots," as the press release for his new EP, Speculative Machine, puts it. Glitchy tones on a track like "Maschyn" might come from a circuit board he printed himself. Sizzle sounds that listeners are accustomed to hearing from cymbals instead arrive from controlled bursts of pressurized air. The eerie melody of "Entropy" literally utilizes one of the oldest forms of a DIY instrument: water glasses filled with liquid to produce different tones, only this time they're played by a motorized set of mallets. And unless you see him performing live—as several new fans did during Geist's seven-performance run at SXSW 2019—you may never know something extraordinary is taking place.

Moritz Simon Geist's demo video for his music, showcasing the track "Entropy."

"There's a lot of experimental artists that put a lot of stress on the experimental part. For me, the music has to stand on its own," he tells Ars. "This artwork has a technical aspect to how it's made, but it has to be really good content-wise. I want to make this music good and on the same level as someone with a computer or synthesizer would program music. In the end, mine's just made with robots, of course—and they add different layers or special sounds you can't replicate with a synth or maybe replicate at all."

Maker music

Geist describes himself as a "performer, musicologist, and robotics engineer," but he's a musician at the core if the orchestral intricacies of his work don't give it away. He grew up with a classical music education—clarinet, piano, and guitar—and only started tinkering with electronics out of a desire to take those instruments further.

"I had no money, so I started building my own effects pedals for guitar," he tells Ars. "And this got me hooked on electronics and the engineering aspect, though I was 14, so maybe you wouldn't call it engineering. Eventually, I started studying electronic engineering and kept doing arts and music at the same time."

Geist would go on to pursue his burgeoning love of engineering to the max. He worked as a research engineer, in fact, until deciding to pursue music full time starting in 2012. At that time, he still had the concept of robotic music—uniquely crafted noise-making devices that could be played on demand, automatically—but not quite the toolset.

"I wanted the physical aspect of playing piano—you're touching things, you can touch the strings—it's tactile. I wanted to bring that to electronic music, computer-generated music. I was searching for the way to do the electronic sound, the techno music I love, but with a more physical aspect," he says. "[But to start,] I was crafting things in wood. When you do something once in wood, it's nice, but if you need 21 pieces…"

Today, Geist does much more traditional engineering work, just specifically focused on building instruments and automated means to play them. His interest in music long predates any aspects of his work that might fall under the Maker Movement, but the musician relies on many of that community's most common and popular hobbyist tools and techniques: laser cutters, Arduinos, 3D printers, printed circuit boards, etc. After a quick interview at SXSW, for example, he joined Ars to walk through the Exhibit Hall—and like a kid in a candy shop, he had to quickly split to chat up exhibitors offering up controllers in various form factors, from gloves to headsets.

"A good piece of art starts with a brilliant idea, but how you translate it into a full piece changes a lot depending on the techniques you have," he says. "Today it's very simple: the prototyping is very short. You have Arduinos, PCBs [printed circuit boards] made in China that you can ship over here… the development process is really quick and simplRead More – Source

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Ars Technica

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