The Machine
Snacks
Each snack is a small build that teaches one piece a full element needs, like a solenoid tapping on the beat or a stop switch. It takes an evening or a weekend, and it plays along with the Bridge like any element.
The Tapper
A solenoid taps a block of wood on every note the Bridge sends. It's the first snack: the listener from the Bridge's first test with something that moves, and the way most strikers in the Machine work.
The Stop Bar
A bar of extrusion on two feet, with a red stop button, a relay and a box for the electronics. The Tapper moves onto it, and so can any snack after it. It wires the stop the way every element is wired: a button that cuts the power with its own contacts, and a relay so the Bridge can cut it too.
The Servo Mallet
A micro servo swings a springy mallet onto a small singing bowl on every note. A servo is slow next to a solenoid, so the lesson is starting early: the swing begins before the note, and the mallet's flex carries it the last few millimetres.
The Music Box Crank
A stepper motor turns a paper-strip music box's crank in time with the Bridge, one turn a beat. The tune is punched in the strip, so this snack plays no notes of its own. It follows the beat itself, which is what every element that turns or swings in time has to do.