Arduino Leonardo Touchboard

[40hz]

There's an interesting project recently posted on Kickstarter that looks promising for DIYers. I can see this becoming the reference platform for a variety of clever projects - especially homebrew musical instruments. (Note: it's already fully funded.) Great video on the project page. Find it here.


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What is the Touch Board?

The Touch Board is a tool to make your projects interactive, responsive, smart or just fun. Use the Touch Board to change the world around you by turning almost any material or surface into a sensor. Connect anything conductive to one of its 12 electrodes and trigger a sound via its onboard MP3 player, play a MIDI note or do anything else that you might do with an Arduino or Arduino-compatible device.
The Touch Board!The Touch Board!

The Touch Board is designed as an easy-to-use platform for a huge range of projects, whether it's painting a lightswitch on your wall, making a paper piano or something nobody's thought of yet. Make sure to take a look at our video above and check out the information below. If you've got a question, get in touch and we'll get it up in the FAQs. We hope you'll support the Touch Board. We can't wait to see what you will build on top of this powerful platform!

[tomos]

that was very impressive

[Edvard]

Looks like a bit of advance on the MakeyMakey concept.  Based on the same chip too.  Very nice.

[wraith808]

Looks like a bit of advance on the MakeyMakey concept.  Based on the same chip too.  Very nice.

I was just getting ready to post that.   That project was pretty good... wish I had gotten in on it; there's some really cool stuff that people have made for inputs with the MakeyMakey.  Have to look at this one...

[40hz]

Touch switches are no big deal from an engineering viewpoint. But the ability to sense distance (or proximity) is the thing that got me. That is a very useful capability when it comes to analog controllers. Especially if a little adroit programming could expand that to detect and measure velocity without too much hassle. (Shouldn't be too difficult.) I'm already thinking about musical uses far beyond such obvious things as a Theremin-type controller (ala a Buchala-style 220e touch keyboard or a homebrew Leap Motion controller) with that feature. And I'm sure plenty of other people are too.

The Buchala 220e in case anybody's wondering

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[Edvard]

Theremin is the key.  Once you grasp why theremins work the way they do, sensing proximity is no problem for anything from theremins to burglar alarms to making interesting gadgets with microcontrollers.  I'm thinking a homebrew HotHand-type midi controller, without the need for the funky ring.  

[wraith808]

That would be cool... would you get the same level of control, however?  It seems that depending on a hand is a bit sketchier than depending on a hardware device.

[40hz]

That would be cool... would you get the same level of control, however?  It seems that depending on a hand is a bit sketchier than depending on a hardware device.

Practice makes perfect. Like everything in music.

Most musicians adapt fairly rapidly to new instrument interfaces - as long as they're logical and consistent in operation.

[Edvard]

Most musicians adapt fairly rapidly to new instrument interfaces - as long as they're logical and consistent in operation.

I would amend that to say "Most younger/incredibly creative musicians..." as, believe it or not though I'm sure you're aware, musicians can be a downright stodgy bunch when something newfangled comes along that "all the kids are using" even when it's "logical and consistent" (yours truly guilty as charged).  

Darn kids, always changing the game before I'm done playing...  

[wraith808]

Most musicians adapt fairly rapidly to new instrument interfaces - as long as they're logical and consistent in operation.

I would amend that to say "Most younger/incredibly creative musicians..." as, believe it or not though I'm sure you're aware, musicians can be a downright stodgy bunch when something newfangled comes along that "all the kids are using" even when it's "logical and consistent" (yours truly guilty as charged). 

Darn kids, always changing the game before I'm done playing... 

I'd agree totally.  I just don't have the coordination to use some of these interfaces.

[40hz]

Most musicians adapt fairly rapidly to new instrument interfaces - as long as they're logical and consistent in operation.

I would amend that to say "Most younger/incredibly creative musicians..." as, believe it or not though I'm sure you're aware, musicians can be a downright stodgy bunch when something newfangled comes along that "all the kids are using" even when it's "logical and consistent" (yours truly guilty as charged).  

Darn kids, always changing the game before I'm done playing...  

Neither incredibly talented or young I'd say.

In my experience, most musicians can learn and adapt to just about anything - even though I know many who choose not to.

In my case, I hate popping and slapping on bass. I strongly dislike the sound. So I generally refuse to play a bass that way - even though I did make it a point to be able to play the 'slap style' in order to prove I could if I wanted to.

I still have enough snark in me that I sometimes enjoy those occasions when a young bass 'slapper' takes issue with my opinion and sarcastically suggests I feel that way because I can't do it. That's when I'll rip through a 3-minute Flea/Wooten/Miller-inspired bit of bass wanking without breaking a sweat, and then just arch an eyebrow. Next I'll run through a classic Bach or jazz-type walking bass line and ask them if they can also play that way too... (Mustn't allow the little sods to generation gap us, right? Bwahahahahaha!)

I think most bona fide musicians I've known feel the same way. It's not so much we can't as we often choose not to - because we don't care for the "new" sound or style.

[Edvard]

I felt that way about "tapping" in the 80s; felt that way about digital stompboxes in the '90s, felt that way about Autotune and anything Line6 in the '00s.  I haven't found anything to be stodgy about for the '10s.  Maybe I'm finally old enough to not care.  Oh, wait... no more than 6 strings on a guitar, and 4 on the bass (though I'll allow for the bass if you're good enough to actually use all those extra strings), and dagnabbit, if you're going to make some music and call it "dubstep", don't drill my eardrums with a fire alarm noise and call it "bass".  

And while you're at it, much props if you ditch your Kaoss or Launchpad for a Leonardo Touchboard and some bananas and wire.  

[40hz]

The Synthtopia  ( btw) website has posted an article and video on using the Touchboard as a MIDI controller. Link here.