CreativeTone SOUNDRAW

Soundraw is a fun digital interaction that produces music as you draw. Create different 8-bit sounds by drawing lines, pictures or even writing words.

Soundraw is a digital interaction device which enables the user to draw lines, shapes or patterns and in doing so produce 8-bit sounds and songs. Therefore combining two art forms - music production and sketching. Soundraw is a rectagnular prism shaped box, only slightly bigger than a standard house brick, with an elegant woodgrain finish and a unique drawing surface positioned on top. Under the drawing surface there are 10 LDRs (light dependant resistors), each with a different 8-bit sound asigned to them, these sounds are activiated when the light levels are reduced (eg, by the ink of a pen on the drawing surface). When an LDR is covered the sound will play continuously in a loop, when more than one of the LDRs are covered the sounds will play in sequence and then  loop. The drawing surface or 'song sheet' is a transparent peice of acetate which is drawn on using a white board marker which can be be rubbed off and re-drawn, a permanent marker is then used to finalise each song. The acetate can then be removed and therefore the song can be 'saved' and replayed at the user's convenience. The user is then able to build up a portfolio of their work which can be replayed at any time. We feel that Soundraw is an innovative and creative way for amatuers and professionals alike to produce exciting new music.

Short Product Video

Donald Struthers and Richard Booth 

2nd Year Product Design Students

University of Dundee

Code

Here's the final version of the code that we used just in case anyone was wondering.


main:

readadc b.4, b0
debug b0

if b0 > 100 then sound c.7, (100,10)
endif
if b0 < 85 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

readadc b.5, b1

if b1 > 100 then sound c.7, (90,10)
endif
if b1 < 80 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

readadc b.6, b2

if b2 > 35 then sound c.7, (80,10)
endif
if b2 < 20 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

readadc b.7, b3

if b3 > 110 then sound c.7, (70,10)
endif
if b3 < 100 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

readadc c.1, b4



if b4 > 30 then sound c.7, (60,10)
endif
if b4 < 15 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

readadc c.0, b5

if b5 > 100 then sound c.7, (50,10)
endif
if b5 < 90 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

readadc b.1, b6

if b6 > 120 then sound c.7, (40,10)
endif
if b6 < 100 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

readadc b.2, b7

if b7 > 30 then sound c.7, (30,10)
endif
if b7 < 17 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

readadc b.3, b8 



if b8 > 30 then sound c.7, (20,10)
endif
if b8 < 15 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

readadc c.2, b9

if b9 > 35 then sound c.7, (10,10)
endif
if b9 < 20 then sound c.7, (0,1)
endif

goto main

Nearing the end

So, recently we've been working on our final hand-in prototype. We've finally decided on: having one large drawing surface with 10 LDRs; each LDR having a different 8-bit sound associated with it; having some kind of system enabling the user to 'save' the songs they wish; making it simple and easy to use by anyone and concealing all the electronic components.
We've just about finished our final prototype and here's what the inside of it looks like.

(Breadboard, power supply, speaker, 10 LDRs, speaker and amplifier)

We're still not sure what kind of finish we're going to go for on the outside of the box, we know we'd like it to be some kind of wood finish but whether we use wood stain, wood polish, wax or varnish is still to be decided. We are also yet to decide on a logo and what colour the logo will be. Along those lines we've prepared some samples (here's a picture) and, if anyones actually reading this, some feeback would be brilliant.