Folktek

An early telecom work.

from the archive;

The Innercom was one of the finest of the Telecommunicator series. It's ancient in every aspect - the sound reflects it's beauty - old and gritty. The box was originally a telephone repair man's box from 1901-ish, so it becoming a telecommunicator is very appropriate. It is built rock solid - every hinge, the lock, the corner pieces etc. have lasted this long and show no sign of any decay that would cause it to crumble. Though it is decaying in the finest of ways. It's original leather strap busted who knows how long ago and has not been replaced. The Innercom comes complete with a custom bakelite speaker attachment made for this device. The speaker mounts on the control panel and plugs in via ancient cloth covered cable and patch jack to the output. Using the speaker (sounder) is not at all essential - the sound is basically pretty low in volume and not of the highest quality through the small element. The side compartment will allow you to store it and any cables for travel. There are two wood control panels (each hinged). The right holds the dome - a work of art in itself - made of resin, glass, small parts and viens, and housing the optic eye. The Dome glows blacklight purple, and though it's near impossible to get a good photo of it - it glows very brightly even in daylight. Sound and controls. This device is an effects processor. Any sound can be sent in and completely destroyed and reassembled in a number of ways. It is a very low tech vocoder and pitch changer similar in nature to something like a megaphone robot voice toy - but it is not. It is simply low-tech, but finer quality. The incoming sound triggers a square wave which regurgitates the sound depending on the peak elements of the incoming audio - and the result is either something very similar to what you're sending in or very different with a wide range in-between. Any sound from either a Mic or Line can be sent in via 1/4" plug. The unit is supplied with an incoming audio level knob. The optic eye features a switch to activate it. It works similar to any knob (variable resistor) depending on the ammount of light that hits it. This device becomes a vocoder theremin. Besides the eye just having one function - the three part super-analog dial switch will allow the player to add functions to the eye (switchable between 3 effects). There are also alternate switches for filter control, Effect Bypass, and decimation. This unit runs on one 9v battery - easily accesible under the right control panel...The entire top panel(s) can be completely lifted from the housing easily to expose all circuitry and controls from the underside. It's a work of pure craftsmanship to be admired. This unit will come complete with a manual and sounder and is signed by the artist - Arius Blaze. The sound of any of the Telecommunicator series is completely essential. enjoy