About: The Crank Ensemble is a San Francisco-based performance group whose musicians create rhythmic and repetitive patterns by using handmade crank-operated machines. The instruments are constructed by artist Larnie Fox; each has a mounted piezo (contact microphone) to amplify its sound. The ensemble of cranks creates layers of sound, resulting in a range of a sparse new-music style "plinking" to melodic loopiness and hardcore noise. The Crank Ensemble has performed in numerous local spaces such as the Luggage Store, the Lab, the Hemlock Tavern, 12 Galaxies, and at 21 Grand as part of the 2006 Edgetone Music Summit.

Crank Ensemble
From sparse "plinking" to layered, melodic loopiness to hardcore noise, these all result from rhythmic, repetitive patterns made by crank-operated machines designed by artist Larnie Fox.