Sound Toys

Devise an interactive electronic toy, tool or game where the user/player controls, creates or reacts to sound or music.

In this project I was very much interested how sound manipulate, enhance, foster, attract.... the interaction between two people.

Could an instrument that was only able to make sound when used by two people simultaneously create intimacy, communication, anticipation, interaction, relationship, play, experience, friendship, disagreement, incompatibility, understanding, interaction, responding, hearing, attention, affection, prediction, bonding, expression, fun, randomness... or would it be two instruments that would only play if both were sued at the same time and they would listen to each other.

In order to get a little closer to what I am looking for I started with a few user experiments.

The idea is that two instruments interact with each other. When one instrument is no there, or is not being played, the other one is functioning, but there will be keys missing and it will always sound a little off, and disharmonious. But as soon as this instrument is being played as well, harmony might kick in with and the instruments seem happy.

In a way this would force you to have a little band, to communicate and learn to play with other people.

Playing one instrument together...intimacy, communication, anticipation, interaction, relationship, play, experience, friendship, disagreement, incompatibility, understanding, interaction, responding, hearing, attention, affection, prediction, bonding, expression, fun, randomness... might be created.

But what is the difference between a group experience and sharing one instrument?

My friends are using Garage Band and their laptops to play a four handed piano duo. This comes in very handy especially if you don't have a piano around.

- Taking the idea of the two computers and Garage Band... connecting two keyboards together, which both need each other in order to really be functional.

- How can this communications between two instruments needing each other be transferred to one instrument? One guitar can only play / make sounds, when two people play it.

- The first test with a huge card board guitar. The interaction was already fun just with the enormous shape and the guitar not being functional yet... the next step will be to give the guitar some real sounds... maybe even abstract ones, maybe it just looks like a guitar but it is not one...

Now taking the idea of two keyboards and circuit bending? a user test in how the communication works.

Two boxes with light sensors, connected to make controllers, flash (action script) and one computer. Every time both players find the right bottom it triggers a sound... After a while we named the sensors and tried to play a rhythm.