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* Record and release music to document specific locations and histories of the sites the semiconductings come from (who worked there e.g. the Bal Maidens and stories we know of the sites). | * Record and release music to document specific locations and histories of the sites the semiconductings come from (who worked there e.g. the Bal Maidens and stories we know of the sites). | ||
I'll be updating [[ACE R&D project|this page with ideas, plans and notes]] from this project. | I'll be updating [[ACE R&D project|this page with ideas, plans and notes]] from this project and using [[:Category:ACE R&D]] for pages made in work from this funding. | ||
== 14/06/2026: Live at Sheffield Pattern Club== | == 14/06/2026: Live at Sheffield Pattern Club== | ||
Revision as of 17:39, 30 May 2026
Making techno using naturally grown semiconductors fossicked from mine waste around Cornwall. Also providing workshops for kids (called Organised Atoms).
In an age of harmful technological myths detached from the earth - these sounds are an attempt to reconnect with the dirt.
This site documents research with natural semiconductors, new synth designs and sounds. The technology used (tickling the surface of crystals with thin 'cat's whisker' wires to create point contacts) comes from the early days of radio, when the newly discovered (and not really understood) properties of certain minerals to have a asymmetric response to electricity (now known as semiconductors) was used to convert radio signals into sound.
News
30/05/2026: Arts council funding
This project is now supported by an Arts Council England Research and Development grant. There will be a lot more updates to this site soon, these are some of the things in the proposal:
- Investigating Cornish mine sites - there are many thousands of abandoned mines in Cornwall each with their own histories and unique crystal material which has grown differently, all of which seem to create distinct sonic possibilities.
- Rediscovering the first electronic 'devices' (crystal radios) from the 1920's, which were much more obviously linked with the earth through their use of natural minerals to convert radio waves into sound.
- Developing new electronic instruments which can incorporate this pre-silicon semiconductor technology. The aim is to use Cornish granite, soldered copper pipes, and CNC milled copper circuit boards alongside natural semiconductors to use raw materials to embrace, rather than obfuscate the earthly roots of our technology.
- Record and release music to document specific locations and histories of the sites the semiconductings come from (who worked there e.g. the Bal Maidens and stories we know of the sites).
I'll be updating this page with ideas, plans and notes from this project and using Category:ACE R&D for pages made in work from this funding.
14/06/2026: Live at Sheffield Pattern Club
Time: 7pm-9pm, Sun 14th June 2026 Place: Sheffield Pattern Club, 2-4 Matilda St (next to EE/opposite popeys), Sheffield S1 4QD Cost: £3/8/12 tickets Dry bar: Soft drinks + alcohol free – please BYOB if you’d like to drink something else
Sunday evening experimentation hosted by Sheffield Pattern Club, showcasing unconventional ways of generating crackles, drones and kick drums.
Featuring:
- Rian Treanor – bringing handmade interfaces for participatory experiments
- Cornish Semiconductor Corporation – aka Dave Griffiths up from Cornwall. Dave will be exploring his handmade circuits, generating sounds using crystals that he’s ‘fossicked’ from mine waste.
- Dundass – Lyra haunting us with augmented textiles
10/05/2026: Release: Arsenic Labyrinth & Live at Stones Drones & Noise
Limited Edition Cassette & MP3 release on bandcamp
Side A: arsenic labyrinth: arsenopyrite semiconductor square waves resonant filtered using chalcocite crystals, both fossicked from mine waste dumps at Wheal Prosper, St Hilary, Cornwall. Sequencing, modulation and rhythm sounds using a pair of second hand volca modulars. Circuits adapted for natural semiconductor use from Roland TB-303 style ladder design.
Wheal Prosper was originally part of Marazion Mines, and later (after 1860) Prosper United. From 1832-49 14,600 tons of copper ore were sold, worth £60,000. Minor sales of tin, arsenic and lead ore are also reported. Today (2026) the site is accessible via a public footpath and consists of many overgrown dumps, crisscrossed by tracks with one large area of exposed mine waste. Melanterite is abundant here, and blows about in the wind when you disturb the surface rock.
Side B: live at Stones Drones and Noise Club at Gwithti an Pystri, Falmouth, 28th Febuary 2026. During the performance the following Cornish semiconducting minerals were switched between: Square wave voice: ◇ chalcopyrite and galena from Ale & Cakes Mine, Gwennap, ◇ chalcocite from Penstruthal mine, Lanner, ◇ cassiterite from Unity Wood Mine, Gwennap. Triangle wave voice ◇ chalcocite from Penstruthal mine, Lanner, ◇ arsenopyrite from Penlee beach, Newlyn. Noise voice: ◇ pyrite from Nangiles Mine. Distortion (see circuit diagram) on 4 track ambience: paired chalcopyrite crystals from Ale & Cakes Mine. Includes field recording fragments from Wheal Busy, Chacewater.
Thank you to Jessica Beechey and Steve Patterson for giving the world stones drones and noise, and recording and kindly providing the cassette of this performance.
The circuit board on front cover is the experimental natural semiconductor diode ladder filter used extensively on side a of the recording.
Recorded in Cornwall in 2026 by Dave Griffiths
28/02/2026 Stones Drones Noise at Gwithti an Pystri, Falmouth, Cornwall
Performance using the Crystal Log Synth at Stones Drones Noise Club, see also Boulderdash Zine
14/12/2025: 220 below adit (techno from mine waste) - album on bandcamp
Tracks made entirely with material (mostly chalcopyrite, pyrite, galena) from Ale & Cakes mine, Gwennap, Cornwall (now United Downs Raceway).
All proceeds will go to the Panzi Foundation, supporting victims of sexual violence in conflict mining areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an illegal exploitation that ends in our laptops and mobile phones.
2025- Soundcloud tracks
Test tones and beats, a progression of experiments on soundcloud
06/03/2025 Live at 0v ⏚ zero volts Constant in Brussels
Recording on soundcloud 4 cardboard boxes, an echo pedal, streaming artefacts and the funniest end of performance accidental comedy moment. Part of 0v ⏚ zero volts at Constant, Chaussée de Jette 388 Jetsesteenweg, Brussels. "Two days of return to ground, research of electronic legacies, recognition of mineral ancestors, dissolution of black boxes."
This short streamed performance highlighting the rawest sounds based on the organised atoms circuits was followed by a microscope tour of crystals from various mines around Cornwall.
