MTF Semester 2: Instrument Proposal

• Instrument Name:

Choon Chop Chop (working title)

• A brief statement about how the instrument will be played, what kinds of sounds it will produce and what computer interaction it will contain:

The Choon Chop Chop will be played by a series of buttons mounted on a board and wired to circuit bends. LDR's and possibly movement sensors will be used for further interaction with sound.

The Talk 'n' Learn emits letters of the alphabet and nursery tunes. By cutting one tune over the last you can come up with funky rhythms! I'm heading for more of that with a twist. Frequency sweeps, octave steppers and anything which presents and sounds good. Loops.

I may use the existing casing with LDR's and sensors integrated. Originally I liked the idea of a 'centrepiece' instrument with inputs for 'add-ons'; other bent contraptions and complimentary devices (breadboard setup, Arduino board). Be nice to have electro-bentisms capable of interacting with each other, as well as their creators.

• Potential Issues, problems or challenges you see arising & Casing and Aesthetics:

A problem I've found is keeping the parts together in working order. A reliable housing is crucial. Experiments so far suggest solid soldering and secure fixing is a must. But I also want to be able to tweak the contraption and in case of breakdown, it would be nice for the casing to come off without much hassle.

My main problem is too much information. How do I assimilate it all into one instrument? There is breadboarding, IC's, basic electronics, soldering, physical computing, toys, batteries, circuit boards, fiddly stuff and more! I am trying to focus on three main elements to realise an instrument:

1/ Basic controllers - buttons, switches, potentiometers and the like.

2/ Breadboarding - incorporating the function of an IC (or two).

3/ Physical computing - involving LDR's and/or movement/heat sensors attached to possibly the breadboard then Arduino board.

I am faced with a sea of possibilities. Keen for the break to do more consistent experimentation and further research.

Finally: Although we have done exercises with the Arduino board, for the moment, I fail to see where it fits and also feel I have a lack of understanding of basic electronics and signal flow.

"I try to find out what's there – not to make it do what I want, but to release what's there. The object should teach you what it wants to hear."

David Tudor (1926 – 1996).

A bit like birth and death, you can plan as much as you like and still get surprised. You don't really have control in the end, the bent circuits do!

References:

"Electronics, Instrument Building and Improvisation." Music Technology Forum - Semester 2 Readings. July 23, 2007.

Haines, Chrisitian. Music Technology Forum, Semester 2, 2007.

Tomczak, Seb. Music Technology Forum, Semester 2, 2007.

Collins, Nicolas. Handmade Electronic Music. New York: Routledge, 2006.

Resistor photograph sourced from - http://www.fuji-piezo.com/photoldr.htm. Accessed 7 September 2007.