The Tape Matrix
Modular printable containment for sonic relics
I’ve always had a soft spot for analog sound.
Living in Tokyo means limited room for vinyl, so I gravitated toward cassettes instead—perfect, in a way, because I love their plastic, mechanical presence. They’re a “cheap” medium played by surprisingly sophisticated (and presently expensive) machines.
My Sony WM-D6C sits right next to my laptop on my desk, and it plays most of my music nowadays.
What attracts me to cassettes (and vinyl) is the sense of intentionality that streaming lost—the album as a fully conceived artistic object: the cover art, the tracks of course, and the logic behind their sequence, the album notes, etc.
As a teenager I collected jazz CDs—I had several hundreds of them. Today, for no particular reason, I collect cassettes with loose ties to electronic music.
Since I needed proper shelves to house my tapes, I decided to print ones that matched my needs. Of course I had to make the whole system modular and futuristic in design, 'cause, you know.... Where would be the fun otherwise?!
If your "sonic re(e)lics" are sitting inside borring crates and you want something a bit cooler, you’re welcome to print your own Tape Matrix too.
Concept
>_ A minimalist storage system that works both as a standalone object and as part of a larger modular wall arrangement.
>_ Stackable (horizontal and vertical), low material consumption, relatively fast to print.
>_ Material: PLA or PETG
Supports: Not required
Stacking: M3 square nuts and M3 x 8mm screws
Mounting: Placeable on desk or mountable on walls (with auxiliary modules with central hole)
STLs
>_ All files for the Tape Matrix project are available for free on printables.com.
>_ For more information about this project, you can consult the F.A.Q.
Matrix pre-viewer
>_ You can arrange and preview your Matrix layout before you print by using the Modular Grid.
