Network
| ‘Networks’ were the subject of this week’s Softness of Things Class. This time we worked in groups, so we ended up with larger projects. My group and I thought about networks for a while and became interested in a couple ideas: 1. Sound… its a good medium to play with… easy to deal with and project/control. 2. A ‘bad’ or naughty network… one that did not necessarily do what you want, could be chaotic. and 3. The click that 1/4″ audio jacks make when you plug them in, its really nice.So we mixed that all together and came up with a human controlled, physical, musical, chaotic, network. It works like this: We made eight boxes that people wear via a velcro/elastic strap. There are three types of boxes: Music Makers, Mixers, and Speakers, each with a specific function. The Music Makers play one of five sounds from a iPod sound with a iPod attached to them, then send it out over the ‘network’, the Mixers take two signals and send them other places, and the Speakers take signals and make them audible.
Eight people put the boxes on (anywhere they want) and play with the connections between them via audio cables; how they make the connections change the way the five sound tracks are mixed and thus what comes out of the speakers. I know this is unclear, it is confusing, especially for the people playing (they are tangled and covered with cables), but its more fun that way… surprises happen. It was good working in a group for this project. We got our ideas together quickly and were able to produce a lot. In the production of this project I learned something important: electronics are CONFUSING… or at least hacking electronics is confusing. We needed a speaker with an amp, so I had the ‘great’ idea to take some radio alarm clocks apart to get it. It started off fine, until I had to start cutting the circuit board to take it apart. I know, crazy, problems when cutting a circuit board? Who would have thought? Well magic happens. I spent lots-o-time breaking and fixing those alarm clock boards, but it all turned out well and I learned about hacking, yay! I would also like to thank my group members, Thanks guys. |
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