Feral Five’s 3D could easily become an anthem for the 3D printing scene. Combining heavy electronic bass and guitar riffs with melodic vocals, the song captures, with an almost haunting accuracy, the process and essence of 3D printing. When I say the essence of 3D printing, it does not imply the glossy manufacturing from university settings or factory floors. There is a raw honesty captured not only in the rhythmic instrumentals, but the chorus resounds as if the process itself while embodying the object printed.
Two lines echo as chorally hypnotic melody: “Make more me’s” and “Press the button”. Anyone familiar with the immediate joy or frustration then joy and additive element innate to the 3D printing process will connect to the words. Sung in a meditative chant, the lyrics capture the experiences felt by inchoate printers and masters of the craft. However, the personification of the objects printed and the siren call of the printer provide a depth to a song at home at EDC or modern house clubs.
3D by Feral Five hits a consistent register evident to listeners and anyone willing to look at the graph register of beats. By repeating lines related to the act of printing and embodying the desire to have more “me’s” created, it hypnotically carries the listener to the full experience of 3D printing. The song is at once fun, playing off the model-test-model process, and acutely tuned to the nature of the addiction found in the action once started. Anyone who has dabbled in 3D printing or become fully immersed knew this song before it existed. 3D printing may have its anthem, and Feral Five resonates with a deep chord.
