Please enjoy an orchestra of household devices performing "Sweet Dreams"

A video shows the 1983 Eurythmics single being played via toasters, toothbrushes, and more

By Reid McCarter  |  August 30, 2021 | 7:30pm
Music Features Kitchen
Please enjoy an orchestra of household devices performing
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If it wasn’t for the googly eyes, we’d definitely mistake this for a regular human band. Screenshot: Device Orchestra

Too many of us are content to let our household devices laze about after they’ve fulfilled their primary function. An iron gets away with smoothing out wrinkles on a shirt and is then allowed to rest. A toothbrush returns from the maws of its user to idle away the time until its next visit to the mouth.

Not Device Orchestra. This channel has refused to let appliances rest once they’ve done their duties, and given them a part-time job doing stuff like serving as an orchestra capable of performing a buzzy robot version of Eurythmics’ 1983 hit “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).”

A video from last week shows a collection of items rigged up so Device Orchestra can play them using “a microcontroller, some wires, and my programming skills.” Annie Lennox’s vocal melodies are handled by a pair of wig-wearing electric toothbrushes with pipe cleaner arms. The instrumentation is created using an electric typewriter, a toaster, an iron, and retail card readers with stuck-on googly eyes.

Instead of referring to these makeshift musicians just by their product category, Device Orchestra has given each player a name. The card reader is “Cardy B.” The iron is “Ron.” The toaster is “Bready Mercury.” Considering their musical talent, they’ve earned the mild dignity of these pun-names.

In the past, we’ve seen enterprising musicians turn office supplies and calculators into instruments, which only further reinforces our view that every item in our homes and places of work should have an opportunity to express itself creatively. Who knows what tune lives inside a microwave’s heart, just waiting to be let free? How can any of us guess what songs a coffee maker longs to sing? It’s up to us to help them live up to their potential.

[via Boing Boing]

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