Prototype 1:
Each controller board has 12 indentations with that correspond to removable squares. These squares contain a conductive strip on the base that bridges the gap between connections in the board’s slots. This allows each of the slots to have three different states: completely off (square piece removed), X axis connected, or Y axis connected.
Attaching magnets to the bottom of the pieces could also aid DJs who might be placing them on the fly or in a dark room.
Last semester I built an Arduino based sound machine off a principle similar to this:
Prototype 2:
For my thesis I’ve been doing various experiments with homemade polymers. This particular recipe is entirely conductive:
With simple wire leads, or perhaps a small radio module, the object could send variables to the computer to determine speed or switch clips on/off. Each of the smaller globs represents a beat or sound in the sequence. Their size is registered by the amount of resistance, and that information is sent to the computer.
Alternatively, the entire module could be handheld to reference a smaller set of controls. Perhaps one instrument that could be changed with a toggle in the other hand.
Each of the individual fingers could be registered by encasing buttons in an insulating polymer. The elasticity of the entire glob would make for an interface that would be largely unpredictable and slowly breakdown over time, but also entirely simple to rebuild and repurpose.
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