Dan McPharlin

Image: Dan McPharlin

Hand-made cardboard models by Dan McPharlin. Produced for Powershovel Japan.

View the full set at Flickr.

Tara Busch of Analog Suicide has a new show over at Sonic State.

In the first episode, Tara takes a look at Dan Mcpharlin’s miniature cardboard synths, an eerie old Welsh pump organ and footage of the very first Storytone Electric piano.

What’s not to like?

Congrats to Tara on the new show!

Artist and synth fan Dan McPharlin has update his flickr page with images of his latest synth miniatures.

AnalogSuicide’s Tara Busch checks out the miniature synth artwork of Dan McPharlin at the LA Modernism exhibit in Santa Monica, CA.

Image: danmcp

Wire to the Ear has an interesting interview with Dan McPharlin – the guy behind the awesomely detailed analog synth miniatures you probably seen here or at other synth-related sites.

In the interview, McPharlin discusses the impetus behind making the synth miniatures:

Well I’ve always been interested in human/machine interfaces and I think analogue synths and equipment are quite exciting visually because of all the knobs and sliders (usually one control for every function). I always wanted to design a synth but lacked the skills and resources, and making small models was something I could do.

As far as I was aware nobody had built miniature synths before. I was already building small sculptures out of framing mattboards so this seemed like a logical step.

How long does it take you to make one?

Generally I’ll spend 2 to 3 days on each model, but I’m a perfectionist so if something isn’t right I will always redo it.

Can anyone buy one of your Miniatures? What are the details?

They can, but there is a bit of a wait. I have my hands full with other projects at the moment but hopefully in the second half of 2008 there will be some more available. In the meantime, we are working towards a few exhibitions in the US and Japan where people will have the chance to purchase.

You can find out more about McPharlin at his site.