turntable-like sonic heirloom plays recordings with ‘singing’ bell

Map Project Office and Father create Sonic Heirloom

Sonic Heirloom is a turntable or record player-like device that replays any recorded audio with the sound of the singing bell. It’s the result of the collaboration between design studios Map Project Office and Father. There are two main parts: the removable recording puck at the bottom and the playback device with a polished, bowl-shaped bell in the middle. The way it works is that users pull out the puck and take it with them to the place, person, and more that they want to record the audio from. They press the button and repress it if they’re happy with the recording.

They go back to Sonic Heirloom and plug it back into the base of the turntable-like device. The recorded sound begins to play, and so does the polished bell as it rotates and produces the hum resembling the singing bowl. If the users want to record a verbal audio, say someone who’s speaking or reciting a letter or poetry, Sonic Heirloom replays it with the echoing hum of the bell as the background music. Map Project Office and Father create the turntable-like device for this reason: they want the users to capture sound memories and replay them meditatively.

all images courtesy of Map Project Office and Father

turntable-like device that can be hung on the wall

Unlike conventional turntables, users can append Sonic Heirloom onto the wall, and the bell in the middle remains intact. For this bowl-shaped chime, Map Project Office and Father work with a traditional foundry that cast the bell. The craftsmen repurpose discarded tin and copper to form the entire bell, and the design and sound studios say that it’s because of these recycled materials that each bell bears a distinct tonal fingerprint. The inside is machined to achieve the bright metallic surface, reflecting anyone and anything like a misty mirror. What makes this polished bell ring is the player, positioned on the upper right of the turntable-like Sonic Heirloom.

Similar to an arm on a record player, the capsule-shaped tab is wrapped in leather and lightly rests on the rotating bell. It’s through this that the bell can produce the echoing sound similar to the singing bowl. At the bottom of the device, the puck lies. It follows the shape and size of a coin; that’s why users can bring it anywhere with them to record any sounds with a single click. The last part that completes the ensemble is the vitrine, the glass that holds all these parts together, slightly frosted to depict how people remember memories: vividly clear with a bit of haze.

the turntable-like device Sonic Heirloom can be hung on the wall