| Musical Electronics Library | |
| Abbreviation: | MEL |
| Formation: | November 2014[1] |
| Type: | NGO, lending library |
| Location: | New Zealand |
| Coords: | -36.8567°N 174.7598°W |
| Region Served: | New Zealand |
The Musical Electronics Library (or MEL) is a lending library of homemade electronic musical devices in Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand, and is a worldwide leader in the Scavengetronica movement.[2] [3]
The library contains electrolytic capacitors, rampwave oscillators, white noise generators, light theremins, sample and holds, ring modulators, preamplifiers, pitch shifters, phasers, and mixers; mostly built inside repurposed VHS cases.[4] [5] [6] Highlights of the collection include the "electric bee motorcycle sound-maker box", a device which emulates the sound of meowing cats inside a Cats VHS box, and "Mad Max" which has been described as "Merzbow in a box".[7] [8]
MEL is run by volunteers and curated by musician and device-builder Kraus.[9] [10] The library was inspired by the work of Nicolas Collins and Bob Widlar.[11] [12] Musicians using equipment from MEL include Hermione Johnson, Kraus, Pumice, Diana Tribute, Samuel Flynn Scott, the MEL Orchestra, Piece War, Ducklingmonster, the Biscuits, Powernap, Herriot Row, and Chronic Fatigue Sindrome.[13] [14] [15]
The library has been running synthesizer-building workshops around New Zealand.[5] MEL also co-hosts an open weekly maker night with the Auckland University of Technology where projects are developed in a collaborative environment.[16]
Kraus stated in a New Zealand Listener interview that "doing any kind of community project like this for me is a political thing - of self-organisation and encouraging people to take control of their lives, instead of just being a consumer, buying something someone else has made, or some robots in China. The kind of empowerment that comes from learning a new skill is a really powerful thing."[8] He said in NZ musician magazine that he wants "to emphasise the idea of sharing and also reducing waste through re-using things and giving seemingly broken or out of date things a new purpose."
The library started in Auckland and 2014 and opened a Wellington chapter in 2016.[17]