Music inspiration from working in factory ?

[Smallstep]

Ok I'm weird to begin with, but I can't be the only one making beats in my head when hearing motors and squealing conveyor straps ?

I dream of sampling a 725kV power grid 60Hz noise to make a synth. Trust me, you can feel the power in there !

So, any other weirdos ? Where do you work and what inspires you ?

 

[CiG]

Apparently this kind of thing influenced Tony Iommi too.

 

[SocialNumb]

Being an Industrial music fan of all sorts noise can be beautiful thing. I certainly understand. Noises in general inspire ideas. Everything can be a usable sample. That's how I see it.

 

[Terminus]

When I used to work on dummy terminals and soldering PCBs, like this:

Once in a while we'd get one that would make an awful squealing, just odd bits and bytes trying to get through, sounded almost like an insane modem noise but more rhythmic, I wanted to sample it so bad. The stuff we worked on would make some weird noises sometimes due to the chips becoming partially un-soldered. Strange clicking, bleeps and things whining and changing pitch. Would probably make a great electronic sample set.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Totally. I work in different steel processing factories around the country. Many times I've busted out my phone to capture some of the rhythmic sounds of machines pounding away.

It's those moments I wish I had a laptop, interface and proper mic with me!

 

[Megin]

I totally agree. I used to work in a factory long time ago and I heard music where others only heard noise. An artist sees a picture on a wall while others only see dots. That's how creative people works and it's a wonderful thing.

 

[H.P. Lovecraft]

Absolutely, many musicians have found fascination in these things. John Lee Hooker gathered some of the inspiration for his famous boogie guitar rhythms from working the auto assembly line in Detroit, Tony Iommi gained inspiration for his playing from being a metalworker, Iggy Pop as a child was enthralled with the humming and buzzing of his father's razor and the atmosphere of Detroit and its motorworks to create music that embodied that sort of concrete jungle feel.