NSL012 Floppy Drives

Summary

This library features recordings of seven computer disk drives: two 3.5″ floppy drives, one 5.25″ floppy drive, three Zip drives, and one SuperDisk drive.

All drives were taken apart to access and manipulate the stepper/eject motors to create unique sounds. Ranging from electronic percussive bleeps and glitchy noises, to electromechanical motor movements, this library is great for creating UI, sci-fi, robotic sounds and drones.

An Arduino UNO microcontroller board was connected to one of the 3.5″ floppy drives, allowing precise control of the drive’s stepper motor via custom software code. A midi keyboard was interfaced to the system, giving the ability to control the back-and-forth movement of the read/write heads via notes on the keyboard. This essentially turned the drive into an instrument, producing a new set of sounds not existing in the drive’s normal functions.

Sounds were captured using a pair of induction coil pickups, Barcus Berry contact mics, and a Sanken CSS-5 shotgun microphone, into a Sound Devices 702 recorder.

All sounds in this release are offered in 24bit 192khz Broadcast Wave format. Files are in a zip file, which includes a PDF with metadata.

Upon purchase, you will receive an email with a link to instantly download the library.