Arduino-powered crane record player brings industrial influence and hands-on controls

Whether it’s built for serious music enthusiasts, I can’t say. But it has a strikingly inventive design, which deserves a home. This is the crane vinyl record player, which breaks away from conventional streaming and recorded music players, and gives music tactile and engaging controls with industrial aesthetics.

Inspired by construction sites, the vinyl record player is envisioned by Love Hultén, artist-designer renowned for reimaging vintage technology, and features a scaled-down version of a crane in place of a traditional tonearm. The towering, bright red crane, looming over the platter, gives the record player an interesting machine-like appearance, which has a different way of playing the vinyl records.

Designer: Love Hultén

Love Hultén reimagines the record player with an industrial intention and a control system that uplifts the analog music scene with tactile performance. He uses a functional crane system for a tonearm, intensifying the record player’s appearance for a home with industrial aesthetics. The player requires the user to manually manipulate the crane. The user physically navigates the vinyl surface, making it an unusual but exciting way to play the records.

The deliberate tactile control is carried out by a physical control panel on the record player, allowing the user to operate the crane in construction mode, like on a construction site. The crane vinyl player commissioned by Rebin Shah requires the crane tonearm to be controlled manually, where the user guides the stylus left, right, up, and down, turning each listening session into an unexperienced experience.

By taking away the convenience of effortless audio playback and adding the fun of participation into the musical act, the crane vinyl player invites the user to learn how movement translates into sound. The crane’s precise movement is driven by Arduino-powered motors and sensors. The record player itself features a slanted aluminum control panel with color-coded buttons and rotary dials that again remind one of the retro music systems.

The interesting red crane display resides on a contrasting white monolithic speaker base featuring a 2.1 stereo system with Bluetooth, while a ferrofluid visualizer animates the sound in real time. The glass dome and exposed wiring on the record player, conceived by Hultén, display the artist’s internal interest in visual engineering and the art of turning retro for modern adaptation.

This record player that “moves like a machine” and explores the tactile relationship between machines and humans arrives at almost the right time. Vinyl sales are rising and the recorded music of yesteryears is making a resounding comeback. In such an environment, amid the contemporary turntables, this retro-modern option appears as a shining light!

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Experience Music in Style with the Hauf Vertical Record Player: A Modern Twist on Vinyl

The vinyl record player, once an iconic symbol of music’s golden age, has evolved into a nostalgic artifact. Yet, in a world where retro trends keep resurfacing, bringing back the record player in an exciting new way would be a perfect blend of past and present. Enter the Hauf Vertical Record Player, a modern twist on this timeless piece of technology that reimagines how we experience both music and design.

Designer: Fatih Demirci

At first glance, the Hauf Vertical Record Player captures attention with its unique vertical orientation. Gone are the days of flat, table-top turntables. Hauf redefines the way we interact with vinyl records by turning this traditional medium into a visual experience. Watching the record spin vertically becomes an engaging spectacle, adding a new dynamic to how we connect with our music. For any audiophile or design enthusiast, it’s a captivating way to merge sound and sight, transforming the act of listening into something both audible and aesthetic.

The design of the Hauf Vertical Record Player is a celebration of vintage charm married with modern minimalism. Its sleek, space-saving form doesn’t just sit in the corner of the room unnoticed. Rather, it becomes a focal point, a piece of functional art. By elevating the record player vertically, Hauf not only maximizes space but also enhances the appeal of vinyl collections, putting them on display like gallery pieces.

A key element of the player’s design is the clever use of materials that blend strength with elegance. The juxtaposition of industrial steel arms and smooth, white textured plastic creates a striking contrast. The steel arms provide an edgy, robust quality that speaks to durability, while the soft, white textured plastic adds a contemporary, clean look. Together, these materials form a balanced composition that complements modern interiors without sacrificing the vintage charm of vinyl culture.

Hauf’s Vertical Record Player reimagines what a record player can be, offering not only a nod to the past but also a futuristic approach to home audio systems. It embodies a fusion of function and form, a perfect centerpiece for music lovers and design aficionados alike. As vinyl continues to make its resurgence in today’s digital age, the Hauf Vertical Record Player stands as a bold reminder that some things never go out of style, they just evolve.

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