AMP instruments

AMP’s instruments don’t follow the rules of typical music gear. They react to physical interaction—light, touch, motion—and their behavior reveals itself as you explore them. Even without technical knowledge, these devices feel alive, inviting curiosity rather than demanding control.
For Andy M. Puls, an electronics designer and off-grid musician, these instruments are both tools and creative partners.
He not only performs with them, but also builds them, giving him a unique perspective on how they shape sound and inspiration.
In this interview, we talk with him about how he works with AMP’s devices, how his craftsmanship influences his approach, and what happens when technology and intuition meet.

Q. You make these devices as well as perform with them. Could you talk a bit about how they are made?

Most of my instruments are first thought about for a long time. I will have a sort of feeling in my mind of what I want this instrument to be. Then I design a handmade prototype, usually of wood. I test the idea for a longtime and usually make a few versions. Once I come up with a version I use for a long time and still like, I make a version to release on the AMP brand.

Physical construction-wise, the instruments I release to the world are usually made mostly of printed circuit board. The same type of material that the electronic components are soldered to inside all your electronics, isalso used for my enclosures. I design all the parts as panels and have them manufactured in a circuit board factory. Then I personally solder all the components onto the boards and wire and assemble the panels andparts by hand in my little workshop.

Q. AMP’s instruments behave differently from typical gear. What specifically, do you like using about them?

My focus is to find a balance between something that produces unexpected results, and something that sounds fun and enjoyable. I like to build interfaces that lend well to “happy accidents.” You don't have to be anexperienced musician to use them. They're more like musical discovery machines than intentional composition devices. It is a bit like playing a game.

Q. Interaction is an inherent function, between you and the machines when performing. How would you describe that relationship?

There is no function of the devices that isn't immediately available to your hands (for example I do not use menus or multi-function knobs, or information display screens, etc). Although they do operate by logic and can be manipulated intentionally, it's not always immediately obvious what the result of any particular move is going to be.

The machine itself becomes a sort of partner in the performance, which may require you to improvise in response to the unexpected results of your decisions.

Q. AMP instruments respond to light, touch, and physical movement. How does this tactile and visual interaction influence the way you think about rhythm or melody?

It is important to me that the interface of the instrument draws you in and invites you to play, through mystery and physical attraction. I try to make instruments that other people want to come up and touch as well, and which keep me wanting to come back and see what they'll do.

I personally make tonal music, that is tuned and melodic even, but I also like unexpected and unusual, overlapping, trance inducing, phasing melodic patterns and rhythms. When I perform, there are many modules running, which generate different types of overlapping, repeating patterns, so I am obviously not manually triggering the sounds. I am more like a conductor. My concern is directing the timing of when to change the pattern, build it up, hold it back, layer it, break it down, or shift from one sort of feeling or atmosphere to another. This ideally involves staying fully engaged in the flow of the sound.

To me, having direct physical action to immediately change the direction, having visual feedback which accompanies the settings and music, having something which can be tuned to produce melodic results, and having something which will throw in some of the unexpected, are all important for staying tuned in to the performance.

Q. You’ve mentioned having an off-grid studio out in the mountains. Can you share anything about the environment there—what kind of landscape or region it is?

We're in a very remote part of California most people know nothing about, in the Cascade Mountains north of Mount Shasta. We are five hours North of what people call “northern California.” We are the only residents on the canyon where we live, which is 13 miles long. There are 4 seasons here, with dry summers and wet and snowy winters. The climate is forests of evergreen trees, small oak trees, twisted and mysterious volcanicrock formations, and a lot of difficult terrain. The canyon looks beautiful and is full of wonder, but at times it can be brutal with the wind and snow. It's inhabited by beasts too secretive to be seen. It keeps us in constant reminder of the beauty and terrors of nature.

Q. For someone encountering these instruments for the first time, what mindset or approach do you think leads to the most rewarding experience?

I think the best approach is just to try things and see what happens. Nobody is an expert at any of these machines when they first approach them, because they all use new methods of playing and programming. The devices all come with a paper manual booklet, which does offer some hints to using them, but they are generally aimed at unexpected or unknown results, so experimenting is how the discoveries are really made.