Week 1
Defining my Final Project.
This week I worked on defining my final project idea and started getting used to the documentation process.
Fab Charter
The Fab Charter describes the concept of the fab lab network, a global community of digital fabrication spaces that support eachother by sharing inventions, resources, and knowlege. Fab labs are open to anyone, and are intended to provide greater access to equiptment and ideas to help foster innovation.
Initial Ideas for Final Project
When it was time to choose my final project idea, I still had 3 options left on the table - the guitar, a photostand and a drone to try out differnet wing styles. I decided to pick up the one thing that had shaped my life for the better. The guitar. A huge part of my life revolves around this stringed instrument and what better way to challenge myself than by making a guitar thats not exactly a guitar?
Next Steps
I'm going to research different materials, techniques, and processes that I may need for this project. Also, since I'm in the early stages, I'll continue brainstorming additional way I could build the guitar since it might need magnets to stay together. The hardest (and the main) part of this build will be the sound production system which is esentially a whole synthesiser built from scratch.
Inspiration
For over 3 years i have spent a vast chunk of my time watching videos on youtube. One of the many musicians i follow, recently built a marble machine that plays music. Something like this:
The same guy also created the modulin. A touch bar runs down the length of the instrument with the rest of the violin style body covered in electronics for a custom built synthesizer. This Modulin is the inspiration for my guitar. However the one obvious flaw for me is the mobility and aesthetic of the instrument. It is less modular and could a long while to set up right, if the user can't work a synthesizer. So I wanted to make something that was more in tune with my aesthetic and could be put together more easily.
The inspiration for my guitar.
Design Solution
One of the challenges, will be figuring out how to make the guitar around all the electronic components. I'll need to do research on different materials and methods that i can use to make this possible. Below is the first sketch with all the rough electonic placements.
There are people who have done projects like this in the past, my main aim for this is to make the guitar modular.