NIME Project Ian Smith

 

This project is a musical instrument that can play a 5-note scale over four different octaves. It also has a percussive element to it in the form of a servo. The goal of this project was to create something that could feasibly be used as an outright instrument. The main thing that I took inspiration from was the release of a new flavor of Coca-Cola called Starlight. I thought it would be an interesting concept to try and create a sound that could mirror the idea of communicating beyond the stars. For that reason, I thought that both housing the project inside of a box of this product and using the potentiometer to change the tempo would be fitting.

The original concept included using tinfoil to convey that space-age theming, however, I found that utilizing the tinfoil on all of the pads was a lot more unmanageable than I had anticipated, for this reason it now relies on direct contact with the pads. The servo is positioned on the top of the enclosure with attached tinfoil, so that I could still keep that bit in, in order to replicate something akin to an antenna moving around.

Finally, the actual audio output of the project provides for a few unique setups. My personal favorite is setting the tempo to high and activating multiple notes. This creates an arpeggiator-like sound.

#include <Adafruit_Circuit_Playground.h>

#include <Servo.h>

#include <Adafruit_CircuitPlayground.h>

//Ian Smith NIME Project

//Here I am creating integers to house position and increment for the Servo.

Servo myServo;

int pos = 0;

int inc = 1;

//This creates an array of notes in our 5-note scale and also creates an array to house our Octave modiffiers.

float notes[] = {65.41, 73.42, 82.41, 87.31, 98.00};

float octaveModifiers[] = {1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0};

int i = 0;;

int octaveTier = 0;

int tempo = 0;

void setup()

{

  CircuitPlayground.begin();

  Serial.begin(9600);

  delay(5000);

  //Attaching the servo to D0.

  myServo.attach(0);

  pinMode(4, INPUT_PULLDOWN);

  pinMode(5, INPUT_PULLDOWN);

}

void loop()

{

  //Reading the potentiometer into the variable potRead.

  int potRead  = analogRead(7);

  //These integers get the analog value of their respective capacitive touch pads.

  int c = CircuitPlayground.readCap(A1);

  int d = CircuitPlayground.readCap(A2);

  int e = CircuitPlayground.readCap(A3);

  int f = CircuitPlayground.readCap(A4);

  int g = CircuitPlayground.readCap(A5);

  if (pos == 0) inc = 90;

  if (pos == 180) inc = -90;

  myServo.write(pos);

  pos += inc;

//Increments the octave modifier if it has not reached it's max value.

  if (digitalRead(4) && octaveTier < 3)

  {

    octaveTier++;

    delay(300);

  }

//Decrements the octave modifier if it has not reached it's min value.

  if (digitalRead(5) && octaveTier > 0)

  {

    octaveTier--;

    delay(300);

  }

//These are check the touch pads and playing their respective letter note in turn.

  if (c > 600)

  {

    i = 0;

    CircuitPlayground.playTone(notes[i]*octaveModifiers[octaveTier], tempo, false);

  }

  if (d > 600)

  {

    i = 1;

    CircuitPlayground.playTone(notes[i]*octaveModifiers[octaveTier], tempo, false);

  }

  if (e > 600)

  {

    i = 2;

    CircuitPlayground.playTone(notes[i]*octaveModifiers[octaveTier], tempo, false);

  }

  if (f > 600)

  {

    i = 3;

    CircuitPlayground.playTone(notes[i]*octaveModifiers[octaveTier], tempo, false);

  }

  if (g > 600)

  {

    i = 4;

    CircuitPlayground.playTone(notes[i]*octaveModifiers[octaveTier], tempo, false);

  }

//This takes the potRead from above and checks it in order to set the tempos from a low of 100 to a max of 1000.

  if (potRead >= 0 && potRead <= 100)

  {

    tempo = 100;

  }

  if (potRead >= 101 && potRead <= 200)

  {

    tempo = 200;

  }

  if (potRead >= 201 && potRead <= 300)

  {

    tempo = 300;

  }

  if (potRead >= 301 && potRead <= 400)

  {

    tempo = 400;

  }

  if (potRead >= 401 && potRead <= 500)

  {

    tempo = 500;

  }

  if (potRead >= 501 && potRead <= 600)

  {

    tempo = 600;

  }

  if (potRead >= 601 && potRead <= 700)

  {

    tempo = 700;

  }

  if (potRead >= 701 && potRead <= 800)

  {

    tempo = 800;

  }

  if (potRead >= 801 && potRead <= 900)

  {

    tempo = 900;

  }

  if (potRead >= 901 && potRead <= 1023)

  {

    tempo = 1000;

  }

}