Designing Musical Interfaces

This will be a four-part class, as there is plenty to discuss, and much more to share. Experience with Arduino and Max/MSP is recommended, however beginners are welcome to join. The basics of each program will be covered, but with the our time constraints we will be moving a bit quicker than an introductory course.

The first two sessions will be spent covering basics in programming Arduino and Max, focusing on receiving sensor data, sending control data to Max, and building audio synthesis and processing instruments within Max. We will also discuss and build basic sensor circuits, and build a simple hardware interface as a class before exploring our custom designs. The goal is to give participants the knowledge and skills to begin creating their own interfaces at home

The second two sessions will focus on finishing our custom hardware devices and Max patches. We will discuss more advanced topics in Arduino and Max, address issues met at home by the students, and demonstrate alternative interfaces like touchscreens and Kinect cameras.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS:

Participants will need Arduino and Max 6 installed on their computer. The Arduino IDE is free, while Cycling ’74 offers a free demo of Max 6 (Max 6′s demo only last one month, so be wise as to when you download).


http://cycling74.com/products/max/

http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:

An Arduino and other components will be required in order to follow along with the class. Below is a link to a Sparkfun.com wishlist, of which we will be using during the class. If you already own or do not wish to purchase any parts in this list, you can opt to not include them in your check out. As participant’s finished projects will be different, a finishing enclosure has not been selected. You may wish to find or buy an enclosure and mounting hardware between class sessions, once you have a better idea of your project goal.

http://www.sparkfun.com/wish_lists/45032