in progress but read it anyway
For a musical instrument I would like to have something that is physical, obviously.. The basic concept is to have a seemly ordinary device that makes noise that is produced in a seemly believable way.
I would also like my instrument to be portable. This also means, since I don't have a laptop full of power, that the sound source must also be contained within the instrument. If possible, I would like to make the instrument wireless. Partly because the fewer wires the easier it is to keep everything straight, it allows more movement and unrestrained freedom. It also makes the instrument seem more magical but not less believable. Not that this should dictate the design of the instrument, however I should pay attention to these things as I build. If I have a wire or 2 hanging from my box I would not consider it a huge failure.
A seamless wooden box with an xy accelerometer in the top a few reed switches on the sides, a motor spinning a wheel with some LEDs and ir sensors on either side of the wheel rigged through some electronics to produce a sound output.
Basic Stamp II
Basic Stamp controls the speed of the spinning wheel and maybe some signal routing.
and the volume
Electronics for the sound should be more modern but similar to that of the
cellulophone(sp?). Probably a photo transistor with an op amp or something and an led always on on the other side.
Basic Stamp and misc components -own
wood -own
biscuit cutter -borrow
accelerometer -$40
rare earth magnets - $10
DC motor $10
Plexiglas $10
wireless instrument transmitter $100
week 0 -build box /order parts
week 1 -wait for parts
week 2 -construct spinning wheel
week 3 -construct basic stamp interface
week 4 -tweak interface, tweak wheel
week 5 -learn to play/tweak
play how I do best, improvising. What I'll do exactly depends on how I find the interface.
In the future, if I ever get any other device I would like to interface with, I would just have
to reprogram the basic stamp to do midi.
Midi Sample code from an external page
Or perhaps by some other means.