Sound Project: A week in pictures
Posted March 1st
This week I have been mostly working in the labs every day, trying to manufacture the hardware to complete my sound project. The concept is fairly simple; a jacket which provides an interface for basic music sampling and layering functionality using gesture metaphors.
To achieve this goal, I needed a way of interfacing with a computer (prefferably wireless) so that I could remotely control my Max/MSP patch. I started with a wireless PS2 controller, which I would remove the analog stick sensors and route a number of light sensors and variable pots to.
After spending wasting 3 days trying to hack the Madcatz wireless controller to read values from my sensors instead of the analog sticks, I decided to scrap the idea and use a larger (and much easier to hack) Saitek USB PC controller. After the “practice run” I knew exactly what soldering needed to be done, and managed to hook up most of the sensors to the new controller in one day.
Next I soldered up a number of different sensors, and attached them to the jacket, routing the wires through the lining of the jacket. Below is the Hood sensor (which gives readings when you put the hood down)
The zipper sensor (originally going to be a complex yet accurate sensor in itself, I deemed too time consuming for the project, and could achieve a similar result with relative ease using a light sensor inside the zipper).
And the main control panel, which has sliders for track volume and tempo. The switches allow you to cycle through the currently selected tracks, holding the right-hand button allows you to load in a sample from the library, and holding the left-hand button clears the buffer of the current track.
Finally the “Sound Capture Pocket”, the concept for this control is simple; you lift the pocket flap up to begin recording the sound *putting the sound in your pocket*, close the flap to stop recording. There is an LED array sound meter on the inside of the pocket, for monitoring the sound input, and also to provide interest when performing with the jacket.
I will blog soon describing a more in-depth look at the functionality that the jacket provides, and a quick look at the Max Patch that I have made.
