A new Digital Musical Instrument (DMI) with embedded Sound Synthesis.
Short History
The development of the PushPull (PP) was started in 2014 by Dominik Hildebrand Marques Lopes, Amelie Hinrichsen and Till Bovermann within the design, development and dissemination of new musical instruments (3DMIN) project at the UdK Berlin (Hinrichsen et al., 2014; Bovermann et al., 2014). Since then, several versions of the instrument have been developed. In 2015 the PPSE was built. There is a pretty awesome documentation of the development and building process of the SE version. This iteration of the instrument was the basis for my development. In 2016 I finished the first standalone version of the PP. Whereas the PPSE was still dependant of a computer for the sound synthesis, I transformed the PP into a stand alone digital instrument with embedded sound synthesis. You can read in detail about the development process in my masters thesis.
INsTRUMENT OVERVIEW
The hand piece transmits the motion of the performers hand to the bellows. It includes six capacitive touch sensors and an accelerometer that captures the tilt.
The wooden box encloses the valves and the microphones, four buttons, two rotary encoders, an ATmega328-PU microcontroller, which drives the Neo Pixel LEDs, and the heart of the stand alone version – an Axoloti Core. This is where all the sensor data is received and mapped to the sound synthesis. Connected to a Computer via micro USB it is possible to deploy different mapping and sound synthesis strategies in the Axoloti Patcher Software and store it as patches on the internal sd-card. These patches can be recalled in less than a second during live performence without the need of a computer.
Low Latency
The estimated overall latency, from sensor input to audio output is about 6.5ms in average and performance tests showed that the PP offers enough processing resources for the realisation of complex sound synthesis applications.
Watch
Below are three short videos demonstrating different patches, which I made for the presentation of my masters thesis in 2016. I will upload more up-to-date footage once I find time to make new videos.
The main characteristic of this patch is its polyphonic pitch control. The absolute pitch of up to five voices is modulated by the orientation of the hand piece. Notes are triggered by five capacitive touch sensors. Each touch pad is associated with one voice. Furthermore, the envelopes of the microphone signals are used to modify the amplitude of the mixed signal. The mapping between pitch and orientation follows a complex system based on modern western modes (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian).
ARVE Error: Mode: lazyload not available (ARVE Pro not active?), switching to normal modeThis patch uses the microphone signals from inside the bellows as synthesis sources. These two audio signals are fed into a network of different filter types. Touching one or more capacitive touch sensors activates individual filters, whose outputs are mixed and further processed in an effect chain. Tilting the hand piece modulates various parameters and allow to play with the feedback that builds up through the Loudspeaker/Microphone loop.
ARVE Error: Mode: lazyload not available (ARVE Pro not active?), switching to normal modeThis patch was developed to explore the abilities of the PP as a sampler instrument. The design is based on a patch implemented by Dominik Hildebrand Marques Lopes for the PPSE, a drum sequencer with pre-programmed drum hit patterns that are controlled with the movements of the hand piece in combination with touching the capacitive sensors.
Here is an overview of the PPs features:
- motion capturing through 3-axis accelerometer and airflow in the bellows
- six capacitive touch sensors
- two endless encoders
- four push buttons
- stereo audio input and output
- low-latency (6.5ms)
- sd-card slot for storing patches and samples
- powered via micro-USB
- can act both as MIDI and MIDI-host device over USB
If you want to see me play live with the PushPull check the site of the “Elektronisches Orchester Charlottenburg” for upcoming concert dates.