Simple Machines

Simple Machines was a record label that operated out of Arlington, Virginia. The label was founded by Jenny Toomey and Brad Sigal while both were living in the Positive Force House in north Arlington, but Sigal soon stepped back from involvement. Kristin Thomson stepped up and co-masterminded the project with Toomey and they started a new group house near Positive Force's. At its peak, the label had four paid workers- Toomey, Thomson, Pat Graham and Mickey Menard. The label was formed to 'find creative ways to avoid the established and boring music business'.

A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. Usually the term refers to the six classical simple machines which were defined by Renaissance scientists:

• Lever
• Wheel and axle
• Pulley
• Inclined plane
• Wedge
• Screw 

A simple machine uses a single applied force to do work against a single load force. Ignoring friction losses, the work done on the load is equal to the work done by the applied force. The machine can increase the amount of the output force, at the cost of a proportional decrease in the distance moved by the load. The ratio of the output to the applied force is called the mechanical advantage.