Doctor in Training - Life as a PhD Student

Finally after a few weeks of solid work I have been able to complete the drum machine. There is a video down below demonstrating how the actual solenoids will hit programmed patterns in Max 6. This post will cover all the specifics of the entire project and everything that was used. Vibration Sensor This was placed at the bottom of the snare drum and we responsible for detecting every time the snare drum was hit. The information was then sent to Max 6. For the actual exhibit you get to strike the drum 10 times to set the tempo. This started a metronome based on the average time of the hits. Solenoid Machine The next hit on the snare drum programed the first solenoid which would hit the piece of aluminum tubing that was suspended above it. The second hit would continue to program the first solenoid until you pressed a phidget button which would allow you to program the second solenoid and so forth. The program continues to loop until you hit reset. All in all, I had an amazi...

Here is a quick video of what I have been able to produce as a little side project in our interactive exhibit design course. A big thank you to Omar for volunteering to be in the video and for trying out the game! Enjoy the video :)

Over the last few weeks I have had a chance to focus more specifically on the details regarding the production of the actual drum machine. My hope is that once it is complete it will be easy to substitute in any vibraphone type of instrument we want.  Here are a few photos of the solenoid drum machine as it looked originally. A huge thank you to professor William Turkel for building the original machine for me and for having enough faith in me to let me take it apart and extend it on my own.   This initially may look ridiculously complicated but don't worry I will explain how it all works. The silver boxes that have little springs poking out of them are solenoids . The spring recoils or contracts when it receives electricity. As soon as the electric current stops the spring is released shooting the tiny metal piece upwards but not off of the box as it is attached to the spring. Each of the eight solenoids are attached to a phidgets controller (see image below). ...

Here is a quick little sneak preview of what I have been working on regarding the drum machine exhibit for my digital history class:   As you can tell I have managed to attach the vibration sensor  inside the drum so it is actually underneath the drum head. Now the tough part begins - coding. So far in the program is able to detect each hit based on the vibration. Now I need to program it to do all kinds of fun things like keeping time or setting off another midi-instrument. I am currently working through V.J. Manzo's "Max/MSP/Jitter for Music: A Practical Guide to Developing Interactive Music Systems for Education and More" to get a better idea of what I can do.  Hopefully after a couple weeks of serious programming I will be able to get this thing to actually respond to what someone plays on the plays other than just getting a light to go off in the program, haha. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know :) 

A bit of an older song from one of my favourite house DJ's - Gareth Emery that I just can't stop listening to. Great vocals and an amazing chilled out house song :) Enjoy!

As a drummer I have been dying to try and bring in my musical interests with my current studies as a graduate student. I must admit I am very grateful to my professor William Turkell for encouraging this project and encouraging me to integrate my passion for drumming with digital history. So here's the plan as it stands for far. The grand idea is to hit a drum which will interact with my pc and then start a drumming robot. The details are as follows: grab a snare drum and stand, place a piezo sensor inside which will detect the vibrations emitted from the actual drum every time it is hit. At this point it will be connected to a phidget (basically the thing that detect the vibrations will be connected to a chip that will connect to my computer via USB) that will use the Max 6 program to start a drumming robot. What I mean by a drumming robot is a bunch of solenoid triggers that will hit objects based on how it is programmed.   Here are a couple photos to help you get a sense o...

Welcome to my blog revolving around my trials and tribulations as a graduate student who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in history at the University of Western Ontario. You will find all kinds of things on this blog including personal thoughts, my academic research, updates on courses (particularly History (9832B - Interactive Exhibit Design), any interesting articles I have read, current events, songs I am currently in love with and anything else I feel like sharing :) For starters here is a great song by Miike Snow that combines a great mix of alternative rock with electronica. I currently have this on repeat and I must give a shout out to my buddy Niko for recommending this band to me a couple years back :) Silvia - Mike Snow If you are wondering more about my research regarding the migration, settlement, and integration of Ugandan Asian Refugees in Canada from 1972 onwards be sure to check this blog out within the next two weeks as I will have updated it with a post dedicated ...