Maker Story: PING PONG (Tactology Lab 4)

What does it sound like when hundreds of ping pong balls fly through the air and hit metal plates? We promised more play, and here it is! In this Maker Story from Tactology Lab 4: MOTION, Junying Wu , Anna Bielska and Alessandro Miele talk about their experimental process of building eight ping pong ball shooters, which fire onto metal plates fitted with contact mics. Why ping pong balls? Partly for the sound everyone already has in mind, and partly for the way a single ball bounces and slowly fades to nothing, like a pendulum coming to rest. Instead of buying ready-made shooters, they built their own, learning by making as they went. The result? Even they didn’t know how fast or intense the shooters would be. At Rewire Festival in April 2026, they embraced that surprise, steering when the shooters fired and feeding them by hand through little funnels. “It’s a bit of a playful chaos that we’re trying to create.” 📺 Watch the full Maker Story on our website and YouTube channel. 🛠️ Maker Stories are short documentaries that give a behind-the-scenes look at what Tactology Lab participants worked on and how they went about it. You’ll hear them talk about their creative process in their own words, recorded while they were still in the middle of the program. Video by Quinten Swagerman, interview conducted by Nina Stegeman. 🧵 That’s the last Bite from Tactology Lab 4. Feeling inspired by all this play? The open call for Tactology Lab 5: PLAY is now from October 15. Find all the details via soundsliketouch.com #musictechnology #interactiveart #interactivetechnology #instrumentinnovation #tactiletechnology #artandmusic #tactility #tactileperformance #newinterfaces #tactileart #cocreation #newinstruments #soundsculpture #rewirefestival #experimentalmusic