Project Overview
Spring 2022Team:
Jackie Wang, Eric Zhao
My Role:
Signal Processing, Video production, Ideation, Sound design.
Duration:
8 weeks
Process:
Case Study| Storyboarding | Physical Prototyping
Tools:
Ableton Live, Max/MSP, ESP32.
Tools:
Ableton Live, Max/MSP, ESP32.
Jambo was inspired by our love of longboard dancing - a form of skateboarding best described as flowy, rhythmic, and expressive. Instead of jumping 5 feet in the air, longboard dancers step and spin on their decks in a way that looks effortless, but with confidence that sings with every move they make.
So why can’t longboards actually sing with every move? We feel that with the musical nature of this art, there must be a more immersive, multisensory interface for dancers to express themselves. Immense potential lies in creating a musical longboard, one that a dancer can not only use to express themselves visually but also aurally. In addition, such a longboard could be used in the future for experimental music production, opening up a genre of producer-skaters who would put on one hell of a live performance if they so chose.
In the span of a month, we created a working proof-of-concept for Jambo that transforms the board’s movements into sound when paired with music production software.
So why can’t longboards actually sing with every move? We feel that with the musical nature of this art, there must be a more immersive, multisensory interface for dancers to express themselves. Immense potential lies in creating a musical longboard, one that a dancer can not only use to express themselves visually but also aurally. In addition, such a longboard could be used in the future for experimental music production, opening up a genre of producer-skaters who would put on one hell of a live performance if they so chose.
In the span of a month, we created a working proof-of-concept for Jambo that transforms the board’s movements into sound when paired with music production software.
How Does It Work?
We built pressure sensors on top of the board to capture feed position data, hall sensors on the wheels to capture the speed, and an accelerometer on the bottom to capture the tilt angle.
Through an ESP32, these data will be translated into MIDI signals and send to Ableton through bluetooth to control the audio samples being played, the tempo, and the pitch.
A Chorus of Movement
In the example of doing a 360 steps, you can see how the compound of feet position, board tilt, and speed can capture the movements of the dancer.
