interview with myself

today the final task of our week of self discovery and one day projects ends with us having to interview ourselves,



INT; What is the point behind your instrument?
RGS; I decided to create a digital and woodwind combination. In the end the balance of the instrument leaned more towards the digital aspect. than the woodwind. i've had a long ambition to try out circuit bending for a couple of years so i decided to give it a go.

INT; The instrument doesn't look very pretty. is there a reason behind this?
RGS: That's because its a partially modular system. therefore a finished refined look would be out of place its mostly driven by usability (with a few visual aspects). The exposed electronics are partially for easy replacement and also add another playing element . For ease of adjustment replacement and for playing purposes.

INT; What is the thought behind the form factor?
RGS; Yes its partial a homage to the key-tar are more aggressive version of the keyboard taking the form factor of a guitar. Is able to be preformed as vs the normal keyboard that just sits on a stand.

INT; Where did the sound noise choices come from?
RGS; The digital noises were found by jumping points on the board, and picking the most prominent and general playing around on the board, this is also the reasoning for the instrument requiring amplification the end combinations were based on aural aesthetic decisions

INT; were there any biases between the elements?
RGS; I spent more consecutive time on building reeds and went through 5-7 iterations, this focus was due to the building of a woodwind instrument was more foreign to me than poking around at a series of circuit boards.

INT; If you were to take the project further where would you go with it?
RGS; Add a new circuit board, to try jumping between two separate circuits would be extremely interesting , refine the horn aspect, maybe change the body materials more buttons. most would be simply refinements than complete overhauls of the original.

INT; what has been the most enjoyable part of the project?
RGS; my favorite part is possibly leaning the quirks of using your fingers to short the solder points on the instrument through this i’ve found it works a tad like a resistance plate with the notes working like a scale away from the first fingers trigger point. also this allows you to occasionally find radio stations when its plugged in to the earthed computer at home.

INT: are you happy with your descision to act as a individual through the idea, design and construction phases?
RGS: definitely the resulting instrument was more "me", rather than a comprimise between a group. the project also feels more acomplised, and theres still comradery between some of the other students. so its still got the comunial feeling just without the strings of a partnership.