The Heavy Metal Work Orchestra is an experimental music performance featuring a 12-piece ensemble of power tools and domestic appliances, alongside live musicians Scott Tinkler (trumpet) and Adrian Klumpes (prepared piano). Co-composed by Frederick Rodrigues, Abel Cross, Tinkler and Klumpes, the work explores the musical potential of domestic mechanical noise, combining real-time electronics with tightly composed improvisation. Presented at The Red Rattler Theatre in Sydney, the performance channels the energy of live music through the physicality of labour, automation, and domestic machines.

The project utilises a custom-built system to translate MIDI data into DMX signals. Each appliance was recorded at calibrated DMX levels, creating a library of audio samples that corresponded to specific pitches. These pitched recordings were mapped to MIDI notes, then arranged in Pro Tools to develop layered compositions. During live performance, the MIDI was sent through the software to control the DMX signals that created the pitch and duration of the notes from the tools and appliances in real time, allowing precise musical control of each device. The two on-stage blenders also prepared drinks for the audience throughout the presentation, contributing both sonically and theatrically to the event.

The Heavy Metal Work Orchestra expands the boundaries of what constitutes an instrument and musical performance. By recontextualising tools of domesticity as sound-producing devices, the work stages a collision between the mechanical and the musical. It also proposes an alternative approach to composition, where pitch, duration and volume, are entangled through software and mapped to real-world machinery. The system behind the project was presented at dorkbot Sydney, and the work was also part of the genart_sys  exhibition including an interview/presentation.