what:
the idea is to build a community-synth-wall, that can be operated with breadboard-audio-circuits.
why:
many people at itp — like me & gabriel — get interested in sound-circuits as they are introduced to physical-computing. these circuits take time to build, and synthesizing a complex-sound requires you to build many of them. there is currently no way to ‘immortalize’ a circuit — i.e: have it ready to use in conjunction with something that you’re testing. you either have to solder it and store it (storage is already a problem at itp), or keep reconstructing simple circuits each time (such as a 555-clock-circuit or signal-generator).
i had two directions that i could have taken with my final — work on something compositionally-rich, or build out a big project. i see value in the synth wall: both for personal-experimentation, and for larger community use at itp / ima / idm. i operated conservatively during my first-semester, building smaller projects & cutting ambition, while seeing others (like cody) build projects bigger in scale.
so, this synth-wall is my attempt at a big-scale project. i tried involving gabriel, but i think he’d like to pursue other interests for now.
sketched; spoke with ian cox; figured out the jacks & wires to use.
began putting dimensions on a wall, and moving around in that space.
purchased wood. at some point, i’d like to apply for the prototyping fund to get some of it back.
planned it out more.
ordered the parts. i’ll request luke dubois for one 6.3mm jack.
realized banana-cables are very expensive. no time to pivot now.
audrey helped me cut my 8x4ft panels to 7x4ft. she suggested to use the shaper to cut the breadboard-cut-outs, but i was under-confident; booked an office-hour with ian cox.