At last, the prototype of ‘Sir Round-a-Sound’ is finished. It sounds great – even if I say so myself!  The push button that turns it on (bottom right hand side of the grill) is, funnily enough, one of my favourite functions on the piece.

The brass pieces are the result of devoted collecting over the years from a range of sources and include a couple of discarded drawer escutcheons. I’ve had to mould and shape them to sit against the profile of the old 1940’s clock case I’ve used to house the sound system. The copper tubing that surrounds the grill was a bit of a trial to perfect, but I do like to ensure a mix of metallic colourtones in a finished piece. I don’t think a brass one would have worked as well.

Tone and Sound

The reverberation of the music within the wooden case adds depth and tone – a very different effect to the sound systems using speakers in plastic casings you can buy from retail outlets. Whilst the speakers do all the work and the plastic casing is just that, there is something quite wonderful about the quality that results from running a recording through a system which uses an organic material – wood – to enrich sound.

Next Steps

‘Sir Round-a-Sound’ has been built to work with a traditional remote….but I want a fancy one! Therefore, you know what’s next…a Steampunk remote control!