Week 1b: Final Project Proposal

This page contains the initial proposal of a the final project. If you want to see the whole ideation and development process, check the final project page.

Following other Fab Academy instructors, a good final project is simple, has a very precise purpose and is beautifully designed. Another advice was to take something what you think is “too easy”, and do that properly. I also considered aspect of iterative development, that is I wanted to propose a project which can be very simple and working, but also can be extended to more advanced versions of itself when I would notice that there is more time. Another nice rule I read was that for the final project it is not important whether it is a novelty or not, but that it is created by yourself. Regarding what to make, I thought I really enjoy making music. My favourite genres included bass music and weird noises, so I wanted to do something with audio (yes, you listen to the linked tracks during reading). Considering all of the above points, I came up with the following ideas.

Bass Synthesizer

A first idea is a bass synthesizer. The bare minimum would be to have it playing some simple soundwave (e.g. sawtooth) as its most minimum version. It would have one button for “play” and an infinity knob for adjusting frequency.

Possible advancements would include doing proper sound design and developing a unique characteristic sound for the synthesizer. This could be achieved by implementing a filter (likely a low pass, maybe with some quirky features, like an LFO automating its cutoff-frequency to get a wobble bass). Other advancements being considered would be adding MIDI input for basic frequency control instead of relying on just a knob and button. More controls for the synthesizer’s algorithm parameters could also be planned. The casing could be designed to resemble the sound the synthesizer makes, e.g. sharp edges if the sound sounds more squealy or more voluminous and bulbous if the sound happens more in the sub bass frequency area.

The major learning outcome with this project would be how to implement a synthesizer in an embedded system.

Soundboard & Sampler

Another idea is to create a soundboard where the sounds can be sampled from an integrated microphone. I had this idea, because my flatmate always says characteristic and funny catch phrases I would like to record and play back when needed. The minimum version would include a microphone, a jack for output, a push button for activating recording and one piezo for playing back the recorded sound.

Possible advancements could include adding multiple sample slots, with one piezo for each sound, incorporating one LED per slot to indicate which slot is being played or recorded. An SD card could be used to store and import audio files. The sampler could be extended to have a looper function so that a sample can be played back automatically triggered by clock of user-defined tempo. As with the synthesizer, adding MIDI-compatibility could be considered.

The major learning outcome would be how to safely record, store, and play back sound in real-time.