18. Project Development
Product Description
BOOM CHIX is a set of drum sticks to be used with either a drum kit or drum pad to practice stick control and rudimentary drum exercises at the beginner and intermediate levels. BOOM CHIX will consist of a pair of wooden drum sticks made of oak, hickory, or maple that are equipped with a standard metronome module as well as a device to offer haptic feedback or vibration at the same rate as a metronome. Standard equipment during practice sessions consists of drumsticks, ear plugs, headphones, metronome, sheet music, etc. Most drummers and their instructors are concerned with protecting their hearing as long term exposure to the noise created in a musical performance setting can result in hearing loss in the long term. As result, drummers are encouraged to wear both ear plugs and headphones which makes the metronome difficult to hear. Current metronomes usually exist as a wholly separate device so this product will allow for the elimination of an extra piece of equipment while helping to protect the drummers ears. Furthermore, the haptic feedback module, will allow the drummer to feel a vibration in the hand for each BPM rather than have them listen for a click of the metronome. By combining the metronome feature and haptic feedback features the drummer will no longer have to carry a separate metronome and doesn't have to worry about hearing the metronome as they benefit from tactile training instead. They can then spend more time listening to the music and instrumentation while making the practice of the music tempo a tactile experience. With BOOM CHIX drummers won't just hear the music...they'll feel it too!
Solution to a Pesky Problem
It is quite common for beginner drummers to use removable silicon handles to have a better grip and to avoid dropping their sticks. I believe this can be used as a template for a 3D printed handle which can be made out of hard plastic and potentially house the electronics for the vibrating metronome to be built inside. I believe a larger version of this silicon handle can be created once we do the module on molds and casting to fit over the 3D printed handles.Digikey also has a very large inventory of multivibrators which is something I am currently researching in order to find the smallest version possible so that it can fit inside the housing of the drum stick handles. The metronome type electronics kit seem to be way too large for this project unless the machinery is housed a separate unit and wired to the sticks externally which was my initial idea. After some thought I believe it would be much more effective to have everything housed internally.
Current Offerings for Metronomes
The current market offerings when it come to metronomes seem to fall into three categories: watches, in ear pieces, and classic block models. The classic block models are probably most used but also mean an additional piece of equipment to carry and cannot be heard well when a drummer is protecting their ears. The in-ear models are most problematic as they give you no way to protect your ears while practicing. Placing protective headsets on the head would be very uncomfortable if placed over an in-ear piece. The watch model is probably the closest to what I am trying to create however the vibration is at the wrist and I believe the vibration in the hand with haptic feedback will build on muscle memory in the hand.
