Money synthesizer … and more awesome electronic devices.

Eric Archer makes some incredible electronic instruments – Among his collection is the money synthesizer, a geometric oscillator[as seen above] modified to produce complex patterns similar to the engraving designs found on currencies throughout the world –

I’m not interested in counterfeiting. I’ve wandered into this area simply to explore the beautiful, peculiar patterns that this technique produces. Since my system is electronic, it has on-screen (oscilloscope) ‘preview’ capability that allows facile tweaking of a pattern before it is committed to hard media. Another aspect of my system is that it can produce designs outside the scope of a mechanical system; the ‘gears’ in my system (Quadrature Wavetable Oscillators) are not constrained to mesh with one another, and instead can spin at arbitrary points in the plane while still moving a stylus. Consequently, the coherence and beauty of true Guilloche patterns takes some tweaking to achieve with the Money Synthesizer…

Be sure to browse Eric’s device gallery for other examples like the Brainwave-Controlled Drum Helmet –

A head-worn music accessory. Translates brainwaves (or head movement) into drum sounds. Based on a batter’s helmet, DIY accelerometers, and a BOSS DR-660 drum machine. The drum helmet has four output signals. As with most new instruments, practice is required to produce attractive results.

Eric Archer’s device gallery – EricArcher.net [via Deviant Synth]