Members:

Michael Qian - mqian20 - ECE 120

Varun Pattalachinti - vkp2 - ECE 120

Quentin Putnam - qputnam2 - ECE 120

Introduction

The project uses blocks to help users visualize different rhythms and how they interact with each other.

Our group was looking for a creative way to visualize the composition of music in the electronic age. One of the things we found musical education lacked was a physical platform for younger children to connect to electronic music software. Our core design concept is to use blocks that can download different sound files and then use the Arduino and other electronic components to allow for different types of sound integration. We also hope to implement the ability to transfer the unique block combinations into audio files. Essentially our project is a way to make the world of electronic music manipulation accessible to all.   

Background Information

Music is commonly controlled through midi boards and digitally through various applications online. While effective and accurate, these programs aren’t very effective at allowing the user to play with and edit the music without extensive knowledge in the program. Our idea would be great for an introductory student (or toddler) who wishes to play around with digital music but doesn’t want to invest in expensive software.

We wanted to work on an interactive musical project because we liked the idea of a musical project from the start, and thought that making it tangible and interactive would make it more original and fun to use. We also had the idea of making the blocks into some form of game, but liked our first idea better.

Design Details

For our project, we plan to have multiple blocks with some electrical components inside that are able to sense when other blocks are near/attached to them. When this happens, they will make a sound specific to that block or combination of blocks. We also have ideas to include buttons on the blocks that can be pressed to play / stop the sound.

 For this, we will need some number (we were thinking around 6-10) of small, hollow blocks that have some sort of mechanical mechanism that makes them able to attach together. We would also need some form of sensor (possibly infrared) that the blocks would use to detect each other. Additionally, we would need speakers for the blocks to produce sounds, and plan on using buttons to control the sound output.

Parts List

• Hollow wooden block (1)
• Small wooden blocks (4)
• Ultrasonic Sensors (4)
• Arduino (1)
• Buttons (4)
• Speakers (4)
• NAND Gates (12ish)
• RFID shield (1)
• RFID chips (16)
• MicroSD Card Reader
• Micro SD Card

Block Diagram