The SynthArmor is a synthesizer worn on the arm. I blow, beatbox, and twist knobs, and it answers with a voice of its own.
The build
- Arm piece
- Built on modified football shin guards.
- Buttons and knobs control pitch, timbre and other sound parameters.
- Breath and beatbox
- A flexible tube runs from the mouth to the instrument.
- Blowing, humming or beatboxing into the tube drives the synthesizer and shapes tone and dynamics.
- Sensors
- IMU sensor: an Adafruit BNO055 IMU on the arm piece tracks orientation and movement, so tilts, twists and shakes control filters, effects and where the sound is placed.
- Microcontroller: an Adafruit ESP32-S3 Feather reads the sensors and the breath.
- Communication: everything is sent as Open Sound Control (OSC).
Sound
- DSP on Bela
- The sound runs through our Bela DSP systems, with real-time effects such as filters, delay, distortion and reverb, controlled by breath, movement and the knobs.
- MaxMSP
- Custom Max patches process the sound further.
Control
Like our other instruments, the SynthArmor uses the Parameter Space:
- Breath: air pressure controls volume, timbre and effects.
- Movement: the IMU tracks the arm and controls filters, resonance and sound placement.
- Buttons and knobs: presets and live tweaks.
