A reflection of sound. This is fitting because the first week of the ECHO project so far has been a whole lot of preparation (we’ll get to the reverberation part later).
Alternatively, an ECHO is but Electroacoustic Composition with Hyper-horn Output of course! For this project, I will be creating an augmented French horn that allows the performer to control or trigger media elements without using movements natural to the average horn player. To accomplish this, I will design and fabricate a set of four removable 3D-printed force-sensing
resistor (FSR) sensors for each key of the French horn. Additionally, a wearable gyroscopic-accelerometer sensor system will be used to monitor the player’s right-hand position, both inside and outside of the bell. To capture and interpret the sensor data, I will then develop a Max/MSP patch. This software will allow users to seamlessly integrate the sensor data into their compositional projects. For example, the data output could be used to control visuals, lighting, panning, and much more. The system’s flexibility will enable performers to not only switch between different modes of operation and thus independently execute electroacoustic works, but also easily remove or put on the system to perform with their standard horn.
This week I ordered (and received) the Arduino Nano 33 IoT and a rechargeable Li-Po Battery which I will eventually use to collect and wirelessly send the data from the FSR sensors and the gyroscopic-accelerometer sensor system to the Max/MSP software. I also created paper templates of my horn keys which we will use this upcoming week to start creating the 3D-printed clips for the FSR sensors.
Onwards!