Rejuvenating the record player’s conventional function with a clean and simple aesthetic in both appearance and action, product designer Kouichi Okamoto of Kyouei Design presents the Pendulum Sound Machine. Just look at it, the colors of golden brass, virgin white plates, and sleek black record player—the design is sumptuously furnished. And its function is just as sexy.This beautifully crafted instrument subverts the rotation of the record player to produce a playfully dainty, hail-on-glass-like audible atmosphere. Triggered by molded dimples on a blank vinyl, the 16 plate-tapping brass-plated pendulums swing and strike the salad plates as the record makes its revolutions.
By varying the size, material or surface texture of the plates you can change the entire character of the sound they create. Multiple Pendulum Sound Machines can also be arranged to create a well-plated table orchestra. Exhibited at Dwell on Design in Los Angeles as part of designboom's Yakitate (in Japanese: freshly baked) exhibition, Okamoto’s design captured our attention with its sincere sophistication.You can peruse more of Okamoto’s works here; for instance, this neatly complex rendition of the chandelier.