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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2022 16:41:01 GMT
Hello! After researching Biodata Sonification for a recent project of mine, I reached out to Sam Cusumano at Electricity for Progress to see if he’d be interested in building a module for the AE system. Sam gladly agreed to be involved and we have since been developing the idea for this module! The initial module specification is as follows: Inputs
- Electrode input: 3.5mm jack used to connect sensors to an organic system under study.
- Gate Input: When a plug is inserted, on high signal the 'latest' CV note voltage will be output from the CV out, and an output Gate will turn on mirroring the input. When a plug is NOT inserted in the Gate input, the Biodata device will output note CV and gate signal timed normally.
- Threshold control knob, which sets biodata sensitivity level. At higher threshold there are fewer notes and only large changes will trigger notes, at a lower threshold the plant will babble on and on.
- Knob and a single button for controlling the different menu modes. LEDs will the display the different menus and values. This will allow the selection of a musical scale and MIDI parameters.
Outputs
- Gate outputs: Five gate outputs corresponding to biodata note triggers
- Note CV output
- Control change CV output
- MIDI output: 5 note polyphony and a knob-wiggle on MIDI CC 80
- 'Raw' 555 timer output (buffered): The 'raw' 555 timer pwm signal is a gnarly square wave which is modulated by the changing conductivity of the plant. This signal could be output and used as a horrifying square squeal. If touching the electrodes with your finger tips, it is possible to 'play notes' on the square wave output by varying squeezing pressure.
- LEDs: Note CV, Control CV, Gates, Menu selection
It would be great to hear if people would be interested in this module, and any feedback on inputs, outputs, functionality etc. Sam will be joining this thread later today to add/reply with more technical info. Disclaimer: Sam is most definitely the brains of the project! I come from a visual design background, and my interest in biodata sonification comes as an artist simply curious in giving plants a ‘voice’ that can be heard within my music/art  |
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Post by robertlanger on Jan 19, 2022 17:28:23 GMT
Wow, that's great! At the very beginning of my AE journey, a friend showed me a similar project and I already made some simple tests - super interesting!
@aethia, can you tell Sam I really appreciate the idea, and if it is helpful for him, I can do all the AE specific implementation (PCB layout, production etc.) and base it on a certain license model. Of course I'm fine too to see another 3rd part manufacturer, and with such a special module!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2022 18:36:20 GMT
Yes robertlanger super interesting indeed! I have forwarded this thread to him via email so he should be online soon. A collaboration would be fantastic—I'm sure Sam would be happy to release it as an official AE module with your own implementation. I think both Sam and I are mostly interested in bringing this module to life in the most efficient way possible, instead of necessarily releasing as a third party module. We would love to integrate some more experimental design to the faceplate. We spoke about creating some experimental vector art to be silkscreened on the faceplate, and also making the LED's a feature so they can be seen 'through' the board rather than directly drilled out. Perhaps we could use the traditional AE modular faceplate layout for the necessary labels, and combine with some experimental graphics/pcb faceplate production methods? Exciting! |
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sam
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Post by sam on Jan 20, 2022 4:36:52 GMT
Hello to the AE Modular community! My name is Sam Cusumano and I am an engineer working with artists, musicians, and curators to build interactive electronic devices and 'experiences'. I have been building and repairing synthesizers for a while, and back in the day I was really into circuit bending. I worked on a Biodata Sonification project a couple years back and published my open source designs, which fruited into a growing community of MIDI Sprout (and clones) users. Today many different companies have used my (very simple) designs and code to build commercial products for making plant music. I have been a fan of AE Modular robertlanger since the kickstarter. I was inspired by the use of patching chips and I have built a few lunetta spaghetti monsters as experiments. The form factor and the jumper cables are a big win for the AE format! When Aethia reached out to me about a Biodata module, I was excited to get some insights about what the best I/O would be for a 'simple' biodata sonification module. I have designed and built some pulp/jel format 1U MIDI filter modules, Breadboard module, and MIDI mult all of which only deal with MIDI data and none of which have fancy CV outputs. Instruo has their Scion module which is a big expansion on my original code and circuit, adding a bunch of CV options. I am hoping to keep the cost and complexity of the module down while also ensuring there is some CV note option(s). My hope is to be able to design a main 'brain' board which can be mated to different format front panels (AE, euro, assorted 1u). For the AE module the only 3.5mm jacks would be for the electrode probe input and the MIDI output. CV and Gates would be routed through the header at the top of the module. One knob and one button grace the user inputs, and 5 LEDs provide visualization and menus. I normally use an ATMEGA 32u4 ProMicro at 5v which can drive a dual/quad DAC MPC47289 (any other recommendations?). Scales (Chromatic, Minor, Major, PentaMin, Lydian, whatnot) can be implemented in code and selected from a menu, 1v/oct CV can be quantized accordingly ... this will be my first module which uses a DAC, I've done the PWM --> LowPass trick on the MIDI Sprout's super secret CV output. I also assume I'll have some opamps as/if required for buffering. For the front panel, Aethia and I have been chatting about some under-lit PCB 'art'. I have been working on some translucent pcb designs for a few years and and if the boards are layed out carefully we could do some interesting tricks. We will play with some sketches and convert into vector/bmp for the board in Eagle. Yeah, i know, i gotta grow up get out of eagle and use kicad. When it comes to manufacture, I'm a 'short run' electronics company with a busy IT day-job and twin toddlers. My goal is to offer this biodata module in a couple different formats, make one for myself and my friend @aethia, and share open source. I'd be very happy if robertlanger are interested in collaboration on the board and design. I can spin up a design in Eagle and send over to you to pop into a AE format ... or i can just try the AE template on the forum. I'm looking forward to getting into this project, and any advice or suggestions for I/O will be very helpful for me to plan and target functionality which users can actually use! Cheers! -sam |
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Post by dizzeesatchel on Jan 20, 2022 15:07:31 GMT
Wonderful! I've seen these systems before and they really pique my interest. Plus, this would help AE to really get into that "modular + potted plant" youtube/instagram AEsthetic  |
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Post by pt3r on Jan 20, 2022 15:53:22 GMT
I am really curious to see how this turns out, the reason I've been fascinated with the biodata sonification is to be able hand part of the 'decision making' in composing over to the machine or to an external entity that is not the composer i.e. a plant.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2022 17:01:06 GMT
I am really curious to see how this turns out, the reason I've been fascinated with the biodata sonification is to be able hand part of the 'decision making' in composing over to the machine or to an external entity that is not the composer i.e. a plant. absolutely agree, this is exactly the reason I reached out to Sam. I'm curious if machines/plants/humans can create music collaboratively, 'contributing' in equal measure. An organic sonic conversation between each entity, rather than the decision making coming from a single direction. Finding a delicate balance between releasing/retaining control would result in something quite magical. I also think plants have more to say than they let on..  : |
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Post by maydonpoliris on Jan 20, 2022 21:59:19 GMT
Fascinating. and kind of scary that there could be the possibility of a plant 'composing' happy tones when healthy and depressive tones when sick or even worse when pruned.
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Post by pt3r on Jan 21, 2022 8:38:08 GMT
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Post by tIB on Jan 21, 2022 11:43:38 GMT
Fascinating. and kind of scary that there could be the possibility of a plant 'composing' happy tones when healthy and depressive tones when sick or even worse when pruned. Even more scary the thought of me doing exactly the same via quantiser settings! |
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Post by maydonpoliris on Jan 21, 2022 18:53:34 GMT
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pol
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Post by pol on Jan 30, 2022 10:47:16 GMT
When I was at horticultural college in the 1980s we did about the electric pulses/shocks that go through plants when they are cut/damaged. Just becuase you can't hear doesn't mean things aren't screaming....
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Post by rodney on Jan 30, 2022 20:04:54 GMT
Global MycAEllium Network module next! ❤
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Post by maydonpoliris on Jan 30, 2022 20:56:15 GMT
When I was at horticultural college in the 1980s we did about the electric pulses/shocks that go through plants when they are cut/damaged. Just becuase you can't hear doesn't mean things aren't screaming.... omg |
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pol
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Post by pol on Jan 31, 2022 18:32:10 GMT
When I was at horticultural college in the 1980s we did about the electric pulses/shocks that go through plants when they are cut/damaged. Just becuase you can't hear doesn't mean things aren't screaming.... omg The Secret Life of Plants is the book as used for part of the course. But out of date now (1973!), But more research has been done which can be found on-line and in trade journals, especially arboriculture.... |
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sam
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Post by sam on Feb 9, 2022 2:16:04 GMT
I've been doing some work on the module design. Of course the quad DAC which I want to use is hard to find in stock (and a very small package). I really want to make the design easy to assemble as a kit/DIY so i was thinking of going for an MCP4728 breakout board and driving it with a 5v ProMicro. Will need a couple opamps to bring the CV upto full 0-5v for the Note outputs.
I want to shrink down to having 3 Note CV outputs, 3 Gate Outs, one 'wiggly control' CV out, and the 'raw' PWM data signal out ... that's still allot to shrink!
Any advice on buffering the Gate outputs? Should I bother with a transistor or is it safe in the AE world to drive gate outs direct with microcontroller pins?
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Post by pt3r on Feb 9, 2022 8:22:00 GMT
I drive outputs directly from the microcontroller pins (arduino pro micro) via a 1k resistor, so far that has worked fine for me.
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Post by frozentoze on Mar 10, 2022 10:33:08 GMT
Hello Everyone This is great to hear a module is being planned on Biodata sonification. I based a lot of my own artwork around collaborating with plants and I bought a AE Modular system so as to integrate it into what I do. The way I've worked is with a Wii balance board and cutting the wires to its strain gauges. These wires are then connected to two parts of the plant and use the plant as a resistor basically. The balance board then connects to Osculator which allows me to convert those values into Osc, which is a protocol for transferring data over a network. I then write some code in MAX which allows me to turn that data into MIDI information to output it to my AE Modular or Ableton or mostly I just build sound programs in MAX. I'm really interested in the natural world as a collaborator and I do this live performance called "The UnCooperative Collaborator" around this idea. Super interested in this module!!!! |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2022 9:22:42 GMT
frozentoze sounds super interesting!! Do you have any links to your work/social channels? I would love to see some more. Re: the module there should be some updates in the coming weeks..
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Post by frozentoze on Mar 13, 2022 18:13:46 GMT
frozentoze sounds super interesting!! Do you have any links to your work/social channels? I would love to see some more. Re: the module there should be some updates in the coming weeks.. I'm not very good at the social media but theres some things on my website here. I'm living in Berlin so I might do a little performance sometime as the weather gets a little better. |
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Post by maydonpoliris on Mar 13, 2022 19:05:43 GMT
very interesting pieces you have on your website frozentoze I'm going to enjoy going through them in more detail. The Vivarium Electronica is especially cool. |
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Post by frozentoze on Mar 13, 2022 19:31:33 GMT
Thank you very much, as you can see I'm quite interested in using this module be perfect to fit into my work.
Kudos for putting it together Aethia.
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sam
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Post by sam on Apr 10, 2022 3:03:30 GMT
As an update on the Biodata Module, I have a prototype spun up which amazingly worked without any bodges! There are a ton of changes to the board needed, and I've overdone it with cramming too much into a small board footprint. I probably should have expanded to a wider module to easily situate all of the parts, but i also am inspired by the raw cuteness of a 25mm wide device. I have been working with @aethia on the design and the next prototype will have the faceplate and touch points. Using a quad 12 bit DAC the module has 3 Gates with 3 Note CV outs, plus a 'wiggly' CV output. The notes and CV are echoed via MIDI output. The 'raw' PWM biodata output seems to work, but it could probably use a buffer on the output and LED. I really like how the AE pin header looks and the utility for patching is very exciting. Now before anyone gets worried ... the photos show the 'Eurorack' faceplate with 3.5mm jacks. I also have the 101mm long AE faceplate design but I don't have an AE case for testing. I have a couple photos up on Instagram , I'll try to add the images to this post as well. I am hoping to work on the codebase and send a few of the prototypes out for beta testing in a couple weeks. I will not likely have everything 'ready' for production until late summer or fall. I have tried to make the design 'chip shortage proof' by using a proMicro arduino format board as the brain and a quad DAC breakout board, at least there are plenty of 555 timers out there One part of the design which I am struggling with is the depth of the AE format. I don't have an AE skiff for testing (I should ask for help/advice putting something small together), but I think the main challenge is fitting the 3 layers of boards with the screw mounts. Amazingly in this first prototype build, everything comes in perfectly to fit in the 15mm space between the bottom of the I/O circuit board and the bottom of the case. I am worried about the power ribbon cable, all of my crimped ribbons are way too deep to fit 15mm on their own! Is there a trick or special low-profile cable which is used for AE? |
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pol
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Post by pol on Apr 14, 2022 20:35:10 GMT
I can't help you with your cable question as I don't really understand what you are asking, but wanted to reply to say I would be interested in a kit for this module if you ever get to that stage,  |
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Post by rodney on Apr 20, 2022 6:31:43 GMT
One part of the design which I am struggling with is the depth of the AE format. I don't have an AE skiff for testing (I should ask for help/advice putting something small together), but I think the main challenge is fitting the 3 layers of boards with the screw mounts. Amazingly in this first prototype build, everything comes in perfectly to fit in the 15mm space between the bottom of the I/O circuit board and the bottom of the case. I am worried about the power ribbon cable, all of my crimped ribbons are way too deep to fit 15mm on their own! Is there a trick or special low-profile cable which is used for AE? What size plugs do you have for the ribbon cable? how dense is the wiring on the lowest board? Might it be possible to have a cutout on the board to fit the plug in more flush with the lowest of the three boards?
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