Author: Mack Reed

Xylophone 1 is reborn!

I’ve dreamed of installing XyloVan‘s big xylophone (8’x3’) in front of the house ever since we moved in five years ago.

My son and I finally picked up all the instruments from storage in LA and brought them home in January. I have another project in the works using keys from the other big keyboard (details to come as it falls together).

Over the past few weeks I polished up all the keys with a wire brush and then started work on the sound:

It used to be amplified by a pressure-zone mike installed on a plywood flat just under the keys, but that’s not a long-term plan for rainy Seattle. So I built, tuned, and installed tubular resonators under each of the keys, made of PVC pipe framed in custom brackets of 1/8″x1″ aluminum bar (photos below).

This involved calculating the right length for the tube (one-quarter the length of the wavelength for each note) and then cutting each tube precisely and plugging its bottom with a round of stiff corrugated plastic – drilled with a hole for drainage (because Seattle).

I also rebuilt the top end of the frame, reducing the angle at top left and pivoting the top rail downward to match the angle of the bottom rail. This fixed the ugly gap that used ride above the sharp/flat keys to allow the instrument to mount cleanly on the van’s flanks. It’s a lot purtier now.

This week, I dug holes for the four legs with a posthole digger and then lowered the frame into place with the help of friends and neighbors.

I plumbed and leveled things with the frame parallel to the little slope in front of the house ( at a nice, playable 40-degree angle), set the legs in place with small stones to steady them, and poured in and then doused a bag of quickset concrete for each.

To help folks stand closer to play, but keep the structure off the sidewalk, my wife and I excavated the sloped front yard and embedded a salvaged marble mantelpiece (found at Ballard Reuse for just a few bucks), bookended by cement blocks to keep the slope stable.

To make it look a bit less gravestone-y, I’m thinking about painting a welcoming message on it in trompe-l’oeil carved letters if I can figure out the best weatherproof paint to use on marble. (recommendations, anyone?)

Anyway, kids are coming by to play daily, I’ve met a Burner friend who stopped to bang on it, and even the USPS letter carrier seems to like it. It’s lovely hearing random music from passersby float up through the living room window. (Here’s a little clip of me plinking around on it.)

 

A graphical chart in black and white showing symbols arrayed under categories such as SELF: Social Dynamics / Identity / Emotional State

Proposal for Long Now Labs

The audacious Long Now Foundation is working to redefine how we see time.

With its massive 10,000-year clock mechanism now functioning inside a mountain in Texas, and the likes of Danny Hillis, Brian Eno and Jeff Bezos engaged, the organization has launched Long Now Labs: The goal is to extend our methods, frameworks, and lenses for long-term thinking.

The call for the first lab in the series “The Book of Time“, and I just submitted a proposal … (MORE)

Table 9 – Potential Energies (WIP)

Prototype table, chairs and figures are laser-cut from acrylic and birch plywood. I developed the project over  17 hours at the ElectricSEA Hackathon, March 27-28, 2026. Thanks to Griff Tucker for all his help optimizing and running my laser files.

This is an audio- and touch-reactive table designed for intentional conversation. Participants spin two concentric rings to align the themes and framing they intend to focus on, and begin.

The fact that the rings remain spinnable allows conversation to shift, as the participants’ discussion refocuses what’s most meaningful to them individually and collectively.

As new topics or framing lines up, the table emits a new soundscape or light display

I can manage the fabrication, but I’m seeking collaborators today at the Electric SEA hackathon. I’m looking for an illustrator, a sound designer and an interactive-circuit designer to help rough out the prototype – and then collaborate to deliver the end product.

I’ll be in the building for the duration of the hackathon – if you don’t see me, DM me on Discord.

This project is seeking:

  • Hardware/software sound and light artists to develop the interaction design

  • Visual artists to realize the look and iconography

The artist will fabricate the table and collaborate with the team to integrate their creations.

Contact: factoid@well.com

Formal Description:

mandala sketch showing design of a table for intentional conversations
Original concept sketch. Click to expand full PDF.

Prototype (1:6-scale) for a 7-foot-diameter meeting node to inspire conversation among up to 9 random participants or focus a small team’s energies.

Behavior: As participants use the table to select topics and framing, embedded sensors trigger software to generate sounds and light patterns that match the selection. Light and sound can be tuned to be constant, intermittent, or timed, based on the participants’ needs and intention.

Planned materials: Inlaid, laser-cut, or painted wood or etched aluminum and embedded electronics, sensors, and sound/light emitters, coated with high-durability satin urethane.

HOW TO USE TABLE 9:

A) Arrive at the table with a group or team and your session framing in mind. Why are you here?

(e.g. Project development, brainstorming session, reverse-psychology exercise, problem solving, helpfinding, envisioning, story time, game)

OR

B) Gather up to 8 or more strangers and spin the rings to let the table drive.

The outermost ring is stationary to allow placement of coffee cups, phones, notebooks, etc.

Each nested ring has a set of discussion parameters on it. These could be anything from topics to specific flavors, mythologies, or contexts, e.g.,

  • Intensity/Scope (Minimum, Medium, Maximum)

  • Intention (Select, Detect, Reject)

  • Framing/Topic (icons for Nature, Music, Art, Mysticism, Law, Politics, etc.)

  • and/or Role of the person seated by that symbol

    • e.g. Participant, Mediator, Scribe, Devil’s Advocate, Chaos Agent, etc.

  1. Spin the center icons to set your framing or topic (or, let the group choose the framing)

  2. Spin another ring to select the next parameter (Intensity, Intention, Role, etc.)

  3. Talk amongst yourselves – and adjust the table as the conversation flows and evolves.

Laser-cut kalimbas

At one point last year, I had this vision of a kalimba made of 3- and 6-sided planes – an instrument that would be pleasing to the eye, but fit nicely in your hands to enhance the pleasure of plinking away in the sing-songy way of kalimbas.

four photos from different angles of a sound box made of brown-varnished wood triangles.

After prototyping it in cardboard, I translated the pattern to 3mm birch plywood. This inspired me to join a makerspace so that I could learn how to use a laser-cutter and make the (extremely finicky, difficult-to-join) design repeatable and try out different finishes …

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