i1: Introduction

A significant part of my PhD research at Queen’s University Belfast involves the design and fabrication of bespoke assistive music technology devices. My research takes the form of four case studies. Here’s an overview of the first instrument I’m developing named i1; a virtual guitar that can be played through movement. For confidentiality reasons, I …

Lab Notes: 24/09/18

The picture above shows the prototype I completed in preparation for the 2018 One-Handed Musical Instrument Trust (OHMI) conference. If you look closely, a few features have been added that were not previously discussed. For instance, there are 3.6mm jack connectors which provide a means for connecting standard accessibility switches to the device, controlling playback, …

Lab Notes: 21/08/18

In pursuit of my goal of creating custom parts to use in Eagle, I stumbled across a three-part tutorial series published by Autodesk. This tutorial series details how to create, packages and symbols, and how to link the two together in a device. I soon discovered that a package is the physical layout of a component …

Lab Notes: 15/08/18

This week I reached a point where the prototype low-cost sample was functioning well on a breadboard, with power supplied by an Arduino. The moment I switched over to battery power and disconnected the Arduino, the circuit appeared to malfunction. After some exploratory testing, I discovered that the issue was caused by the prototype not having …

Lab Notes: 09/08/18

So far in the lab this week I've been focusing on developing and testing capacitive touch circuits and corresponding code. I began this round of prototyping with the intention of simplifying the design by reducing the number of parameters available to be controlled to three; Record, Play Trigger and Play Gate. In the back of my …

Lab Notes: 26/07/18

Recently I returned to the ISD1820 Voice Recorder Module schematic I’ve been in the process of designing. I decided to test the circuit on a breadboard, results were mixed. I found it was quite straightforward to add an L78L05 voltage regulator to the design as shown below: The L78L05 datasheet suggests placing capacitors between both …

Soniphorm Part 3: 09/07/18

There was a certain amount of satisfaction seeing the pickups fit nicely into their case. After some discussion as a group we proceeded under Ed's guidance to modify the design further in Fusion 360. A bench was added for the pick along with reinforcements for the two end boxes. Ed took the reigns and transformed …

Soniphorm Part 2: 05/07/18

Using China based PCB manufacturer allpcbs, Ed previously fabcricated a couple of circuits, circuits which he typically finds useful in his designs. The first circuitboard was the Soundsniffer, which forms the basis of a preamplifier kit Ed sells via his website. The second circuitboard was a Mosfet motor driver. We utilised both circuits in our …

Soniphorm Part 1: 04/07/18

I recently returned from a week long digital fabrication course at the Soniphorm Workshop in Gweedore, Donegal. Soniphorm is a project of Ed Devane and encompasses his work as a designer and maker or experimental musical devices and art installations. The course saw us looking at common digital fabrication techniques with Ed providing insight into …

Lab Notes: 18/06/18

After doing a fair amount of breadboarding during the last few lab sessions, I decided to stop and try to sketch out what it is exactly I'm trying to achieve in the design. Due to the fact that it can take a few attempts to get a circuit design correct, I decided to mock it …