Group items tagged

Nashville-based Artiphon has created an electronic instrument that beats them all for one reason: It can become them all.

the Instrument 1’s endless compatibility and customization means it can reproduce the sounds of a bongo, an oboe, a hurdy gurdy, a lur, even a nyckelharpa. Even crazier, it can create all those sounds at the same time by assigning each of its digital strings to a different instrument.

The incredible device can be plugged into almost any computer or Ap

This robot drum arm comes from Georgia Tech, and was originally designed as a way to help a drummer who had lost an arm.

Here, the drum arm augments an existing drummer. While the user in question is wearing a headband with sensors, that part of the project isn’t ready yet. Instead, the robot arm is drumming of its own accord, with some awareness of what the human is doing. It listens, and it plays along.

The robotic arm is smart for a few reasons. First, it knows what to play by listening to the music in the room. It improvises based on the beat and rhythm. For instance, if the musician plays slowly, the arm slows the tempo. If the drummer speeds up, it plays faster. Another aspect of its intelligence is knowing where it’s located at all times, where the drums are, and the direction and proximity of the human arms. When the robot approaches an instrument, it uses built-in accelerometers to sense the distance and proximity. On-board motors make sure the stick is always parallel to the playing surface, allowing it to rise, lower or twist to ensure solid contact with the drum or cymbal. The arm moves naturally with intuitive gestures because it was programmed using human motion capture technology.