The first String Thing was born from a bucket of discarded piano bass strings. Fastened with nails to two blocks of scrap wood, they were rusty and unwieldy and much too thick to be pulled taught between two bodies. At their best they produced a low resounding thud. To compensate for the Thing’s lack of acoustic ability, the strings were attached to a Touch Board which activated recorded samples of bowed strings and voices.

A year later the second String Thing came to fruition, this time made of harpsichord strings and a cigar box, fashioned with guitar pegs, heart-shaped holes, and bridges. These strings are strong and thin, bending and stretching with the bodies that animate them. Inside the other box is an Arduino which attaches to an accelerometer-based glove and potentiometers. One hand activates the strings, the other’s motion controls their processing. String Thing #2 exists in the space between the two bodies that wear it. They are its backbone. Without them it makes no sound.

Fae Ordaz is a sound artist, musical instrument designer, and experimental performer from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work blends tactile sound-making with vocal improvisation, creating rich, chaotic sonic environments where melody, noise, and resonance collide. Using hand-built instruments, strings, feedback loops, and her own voice, she crafts melodies that emerge and dissolve within layers of tangible noise, often drifting between music and sculpture. Visual storytelling plays a central role in Ordaz’s performances—she works with shadows, puppetry, and movement to shape the atmosphere, creating immersive experiences where the sonic and visual intertwine. A visual artist as well, her work in woodworking, textiles, and animation directly informs the construction of her hand-built instruments. She is also the co-treasurer of Modern Music Guild (MMG), where she organizes experimental music events and oversees booking and budgeting for the student-run collective. Ordaz is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music Degree in Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA) at Oberlin Conservatory.

Penina Biddle-Gottesman is a sound artist, musical instrument designer, and experimental performer from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work blends tactile sound-making with vocal improvisation, creating rich, chaotic sonic environments where melody, noise, and resonance collide. Using hand-built instruments, strings, feedback loops, and her own voice, she crafts melodies that emerge and dissolve within layers of tangible noise, often drifting between music and sculpture. Visual storytelling plays a central role in her performances—she works with shadows, puppetry, and movement to shape the atmosphere, creating immersive experiences where the sonic and visual intertwine. A visual artist as well, her work in woodworking, textiles, and animation directly informs the construction of her hand-built instruments. She is also the co-treasurer of Modern Music Guild (MMG), where she organizes experimental music events and oversees booking and budgeting for the student-run collective. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music Degree in Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA) at Oberlin Conservatory.