Sometimes, I get jaded about technology. I see something blink or beep or run a complicated earth-saving algorithm, and I sigh. I wish I cared, but I can’t. Then, sometimes, I see something that shocks me back into being wowed. Writing a computer program that allows you to mouse-click a button [...]
So I got this Behringer BCF2000 because it wanted its beautifully motorized innards, but I didn’t want to take it apart and risk ruining both a wonderful piece of hardware and a moderately comprehensive warranty, so I wanted to see the insides first. So I applied some internet to the task, and found that someone [...]
So here’s my first serious stab at a performance plan for my NIME object. I’m going to map out something more interesting (probably in Illustrator or something) and/or post the Max patch as I plan to move through it, but I’m not quite there yet with that.
Performance - the strange object
Start: the form sits [...]
I’ve been thinking more about how Sound/Space will be displayed and used, and while I think a lot of that may be dictated by the final form and its abillity to react to the audio cues of the surrounding area, it’s coming into its own a bit more at this point. I want it [...]
I’ve been plowing forward with the Sound/Space (or whatever it ends up getting called — Pusher/Puller and Pushmepullyou still sit on the block) design, and tried out some more materials for the top. At Dana’s suggestion, I gave pantyhose a shot, and it does a beautiful job of showing the points and the dips in [...]
After bouncing back and forth with ideas for a few weeks, I made my final project proposal today in Computers for the Rest of You (slide deck here). I’ve been fascinated by the intersections between stress, paranoia and technology lately, and while some of my projects have been more practical (or at least serious), [...]
Just when I swear off further physical work on my NIME prototype, the soon-to-be source of my motorized slide pots arrives:
It actually behaves better than most Behringer equipment I’ve messed with, and the motorized sliders react surprisingly well. Of course, at this point, I’ll probably have to wait until after finals to take it apart [...]
So it’s back to the lab again…
After taking a week to really rethink the way my prototype works, I started solidifying the innards a bit better. I’d wanted to add motion, beef up the structure, possibly make it bigger, and do a while pile of other things, but realistically I’ll have to call it quits [...]
Because I’ve been very bad about the “hey, this is what I do here” stuff this semester, here’s a quick glimpse at what the cool kids do on Sundays:
Maybe I’ll get back to that sort of thing. Soonish.
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Posted 18 November 2007
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When I was making the crickets, I ran into a lot of issues with finding a reasonably-priced, pcomp-able sound generation system. There’s some work (especially by Limor Fried) into making open-source MP3 players, but they ain’t cheap and they take a lot of tinkering. There’s voice chips, like those found in toys and/or [...]
