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3 Posts tagged with the music tag
Cabe Atwell
0

 

Practicing a musical instrument takes a lot of time, preceded by the loss of a sizable pile of money. To parents, they can be a double edge sword as they can be expensive and loud but also a considerable skill and hobby to acquire if their child is truly interested. This is the case unless the parent is a tech-savvy engineer. In which case, the perfect solution has already been built for kids that want to practice the drums.

 

 

Ian Cole was able to make an electronic drum set using the "Drum Kit - Kit Ai" all included (DKKAI) from SpikenzieLabs and some misclanious hardware from IKEA and the corner-store. The Spikenzielabs drum machine is an ATMEGA168-based kit that includes piezoelectric sensors. These sensors can be placed on any makeshift drumhead. Using the SpikenzieLabs DKKAI Roadie, programming the sensors becomes even easier. This DKKAI Roadie is a daughterboard add on that allows the user to designated a MIDI output sound to each sensor and store it in the ATMEGA eeprom directly from the connected MIDI device.

 

 

Cole opted for using Tupperware from IKEA as the drums. He attached the Piezos on to aluminum plates, which were the placed under the lids of Tupperware containers. The PVC piping structure holds the drums in place, and it also doubles as electrical conduit for the wiring.

 

 

His son is now able to play quality electric drums with the use of a MIDI capable iPad and the Garage band software connected to an amp or headphone. Lets hear it for tech-savvy parents.

 

 

Everything you need to know about the SpikenzieLabs drum kit can be found after the link.

 

Cabe

http://twitter.com/Cabe_e14

151 Views 0 Comments Permalink Tags: design, test, innovation, measurement, sensor, prototyping, research, hmi, opensource, music, musical, diy, maker, hacker, cabeatwell
Cabe Atwell
2

headcans sensor.jpg

Universal Earphones (via Igarashi Design Interfaces Project team)

 

Another instance of "it is so simple it eluded me."

 

Designers from the Igarashi Design Interfaces Project, of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, have made a set of ear-bud style headphones that know which ear they are in. A proximity sensor built into each bud detects where the parts of the ear are located. The right ear will show up on one side of the sensor, left ear will be the other side. According to the picture, it looks as though it only senses one ear, where it will not sense the other at all, hence assuming "left." This detection allows the system to  deliver the stereo-audio channel accordingly.

 

The headphones also produce a "weak electrical current" through the user's head. This is used to detect when an ear bud is removed and shared with another person. Without the current signal, the system will immediately play the music/audio in mono. The goal is that when music is shared with another person, the fullest sound is delivered. This way both can hear all parts of the audio.

 

Extension of the project has its aim set on detecting when the buds are actually in the users ear via skin conduction sensing. That way the sound stream can be started or stopped automatically. The entire project will be showcased at the Intelligent User Interface Conference in Lisbon Portugal, February 14-17. More details as they come in during the show.

 

Cabe

http://twitter.com/Cabe_e14

136 Views 2 Comments Permalink Tags: design, embedded, communication, industry, innovation, audio, sensor, prototyping, research, hmi, music, stereo_audio
Eavesdropper
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Open-Source Guitar

Posted by Eavesdropper Apr 7, 2011

 

 

Zoybar community project by Kevin Rupp has taken the open-source electric modular guitar to another plane. The base guitar has been combined with a Korg Kaossilator synthesizer, pocket pod, and a wireless transmitter from Line 6. One man bands rejoice.

 

The Zoybar was started and founded by Ziv Bar IIan as a starting place for musicians or companies can easily build their own instruments. The base design of the Zoybar is available for download on their site. All CAD files, parts lists, and assemblies are free under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.5 License. 3D drawings are available for converting to production code.

 

As in the example above, community members add, change, enhance their systems. However, if you are not one for complete DIY, or do not have a machine shop, kits for the base guitar or bass are also available, but not cheap.

 

Zoybar's mission statement says it all, "Sharing ideas and creating in a co-creation environment brings a new era in the music instruments evolution."

 

Eavesdropper

143 Views 0 Comments Permalink Tags: innovation, cad, open_source, music, guitar, eavesdropper:dit, dit