Ponytrap
Ponytrap is a band, a robotics-tech presentation, and a hands-on interactive installation all in one! Ponytrap plays industrial music on classical instruments with gigantic robotic percussion. MAX is a massive robotic drum monster that can rise to almost 5 meters in height, runs on 4 car batteries, and reads music. Ponytrap's newest member NOVA, is a roving robotic DJ that can mix any audio you can imagine into a symphony of sound. Together with creator Quentin Thomas-Oliver, MAX and NOVA have been traveling the world entertaining audiences from San Francisco to Prague!
Quentin Thomas-Oliver
Quentin Thomas-Oliver is a classical musician by training and a maker by accident. His maker journey began with a simple need: to find a drummer that would join him in his band Ponytrap, playing hardcore industrial music on classical instruments. After years of trying and failing to find the right human bandmates, Quentin decided to build one! It's been over a decade since the first prototype, and the machines have grown in size and complexity, but now they tour the world together, making their own music in their own way!
More Maker Info
https://www.ponytrapmusic.com/More Event Info
More Project Info
https://www.ponytrapmusic.com/
What inspired you to make this project?
Necessity is the mother of invention... We didn't really intend to become Makers. We just needed a drummer that wanted to play the same kind of weird music that we do. When we couldn't find the right person, we built robots instead!
What are some of the challenges you have encountered and how did you address them?
Robotic musicians can be so accurate that they lose the organic feel of music. One of the biggest challenges Ponytrap has had to work through over the years is to build machines that are metronomically precise, and yet, have enough "controlled chaos" to retain a human-like musical feel.