Buttons from Hell

Trailer:

16 unique buttons and switches recorded
2 round robins
96 samples

My original plan was to capture some instrument with cassette recorder, but I quickly realized that the recorder’s buttons had an interesting sound of their own. That discovery led me down a different path: I began recording every switches and buttons I could get my hands on — a guitar pedal, a light switch, a power strip, computer keyboard…

To capture every tiny detail, I placed the microphone so close to the button that sometimes I could barely fit my finger between the mic and the switch to press it. Editing revealed even more possibilities. With heavy saturation and processing, a small mechanical click could transform into something entirely new — a booming metallic percussion, a gritty industrial thud.

At first, my plan was to simply place DecentSampler controls over a photographic background. But that didn’t feel right for the sound. Instead I decided to design everything myself, all built from vector graphics and photos I collected from different materials. That part of the process ended up taking even longer than the audio, but the result finally reflected the rough, mechanical character of the instrument.

You can also download this product from gumroad and support me with any amount of money you want, so that I can spend more time creating new instruments in the future:
https://joonasylanne.gumroad.com/l/buttonsfromhell