Inner City...

The spike organ or nail chello (sic) is thought to originate from an early middle Europe monastic sect, the Iscariotians. They may have used the instrument to accompany their lengthy rituals contemplating the pain of the crucifixion.  

The Iscariotians are said to have been wiped out by returning crusaders at the behest of emperor Leopold III. Other commentators have suggested that the whole story may have been a constructed  alibi for the defeated crusaders plunder and desecration of the brewery of ..Santa Quaffa...


A possible surviving 'chello' object, made from of lignum vitae and iron, resides in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. Its interpretation is not without controversy with some critics asserting the object is nothing more than a kind of agricultural implement, though this does not explain its cruciform shape and carved decoration.

In 1972 the scholar . Roland de Févin was granted permission to investigate the Rouen Chello, explore its sound making capabilities and make recordings. his theory was that the instrument was to be played by a rosined bow.  Unfortunately de Févin's playing and handling resulted in two of the nails fracturing and so the investigation was terminated after only one day. The single recording de Févin made was never released but it was played to audiences on an European lecture tour he conducted shortly before his death in 1974. 

It has been subsequently alleged that de Févin's  investigation  coincided with the great fire at  Nantes cathedral. This lead to several occultist conspiracy theories, most notably retold in the pulp fiction novel Blood Nail-(Brownie Dane,1975) much of the plot was lifted for the Italian soft core film Sistero Orgasma (1977) where the action was switched away from a monastery to a scantily clad convent.(citation needed) 

On the film soundtrack, the sounds of the Chello were replicated by experimental electronic synthesiser the achoirorium- itself the  subject of intrigue- as its extremely high operating voltages caused the death of its creator  Luigi soon after the recording session.


This recording was made in 1980 by UK avant geographer Forster Iberix who attended several of de Févin's lectures.  He set about building a replica device and making reconstructions of the Iscariotarian mass based on a column of scribbled numbers  which appear reverso  in one of Leonardo da Vinci's codex's (Coded notebooks). The recording was released on an untitled flexi disk issued by cult French label sordide sentimental -who now deny any knowledge of its existence. It does not appear on their official discography.  Improbably- Haringey local studies library, London, has a copy in their archive. The library does not provide any method of playback for the flexidisc and items from the archive cannot be withdrawn -so some subterfuge was involved in me getting this track taped. Whilst the disk was in my possession an inexplicable number of minor disasters befell me -so I can assure you I hurriedly returned it.

disquiet0385
More on this 385th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Audubonus Instrumentum / The Assignment: Imagine a fake instrument, and make music with it — at:
https://disquiet.com/0385/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
https://disquiet.com/junto/
Thanks to Paul Harrington for the Latin assistance.
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0385-audubonus-instrumentum/

The Nail Chello (disquiet0385)

Night Rain (Naviarhaiku 323)

Michael Renkel - electronics and guitar
Nicolas Wiese - electronics and feedback

unmixed rehearsal recording (excerpt), May 2020

THE QUIET CUE - Renkel/Wiese - Rehearsal Excerpt May2020

Cylinder

Prelude (postlude)

In Between

Sheep Police [Jack]

Heroic Mountain

Frustration

Desert land

Hello, my name is pippy. 

welcome to my diary.

temp hiatus, stay tuned.. 10-6-2025

-----
ABOUT pippy (that's me, pippy):

enoff have asked who and what is pippy. pippy is pippy, i.e., a silly name with no meaning or basis. the idea of pippy was to create a baseless character for my music to live in, unbound by any sense of seriousness, coolness, likeability. the name and idea of pippy is to provide a 'wtf' response from whomever stumbles upon this page. i do not like creative boundaries, expectations, and preconceived notions. i think a lot of musicians get wrapped up in identity (crisis) and advertise their music with intent of being listened to, and become influenced by what is known to be likeable. i purposefully do not advertise, share, or promote my sounds to retain an honesty and rawness in what i produce. i write from whatever is on my mind, in my mind, at the moment. nearly all tracks are sloppily written in 1-3 hour bursts, and then thats it. 99% of my tracks are completely written from scratch, lots of midi work and many modulations to create a dynamic sound. i try to keep things unpredictable, to a fault.. i become bored very easily, and i enjoy this process i have nailed down. i leave it to the community and the listener to decide if my tracks are worth sharing. as you can see from the numbers, my page is quite lonely. i like it this way. but, if you enjoy what you hear, i leave my promotion in your hands. pippy enjoys creating for the sake of creating, out in the world of pippyland. i encapsulate current emotions in each track, so this is the closest thing i have to a diary. i can recall the mood, state, time, period of each piece, and it is an amazing way for me to recall my past. there is no social media maintained for pippy, no other source for these tracks. just shitty soundcloud, which is quite awful. i should invest more time in expanding to better platforms but i am a creature of habit. if you've read this far, then yer one of the few that is intrigued by the sounds and so i'll continue for u.

original concept for pippy:
pippy was orphaned due to mother passing during birth. the father was totally distraught by pippy's green colored skin, and what appeared to be red hair., as such, abandoned, pippy was sent to work in the ole' mill in the glorious 'Tube City'. pippy enjoyed his work, but one day while having tea in his shack, he heard a shriek. pippy investigated his neighbors box and was shocked to see a dead body. Tube City police arrived shortly after and attempted to arrest pippy. alas, he gave them the ole' pip-slip and made a shabby escape at the local marina. pippy sailed far away to an island where he met garp, a red faced dim-witted creature. pippy enjoyed the peaceful nature of his new life on the island, but eventually the wails came. pippy trapped on the island, was forced to turn himself in! the court hearing occurred immediately and all at once: pippy was to be sent to Penal Planet for execution. the ship took months to arrive at the block. as pippy exited and walked to the gallows, chains sweeping in the distance, he remembered th


Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3v2S5ZASfH8BVTw0HEsN5i
Apple:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/world-of-machines/1526087649?uo=4&app=music&at=1001lry3&ct=dashboard
Google Music:
https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Pippy_World_of_Machines?id=B4vjsvm4ypou2msccmb6wxkcasq