Entwerfen I

Making music tangible.

During the course Entwerfen 1 at the University of Design, it was our task to visualize a piece of music. The ultimate goal is the develop a system for the different instruments, musical arrangements and then use them to visualize a song.

Our team chose the song Lament I by the blind musician Moondog. The fact that Moondog is blind heavily influenced our design process, as we decided to attempt to make music tangible. Inspired by braille, we wanted to create a system where the finger is capable of "touching" sound. We further took inspiration from turntables and devised a system where a persons arm essentially becomes the turntable arm and the finger the needle.

The music is translated into a series of valleys and peaks and then translated into a 3D model which we then replicated using a CNC machine.

Unfortunately we ran out of time at the end of the course and only made a single prototype work. The results of the first prototype were very promising but the tangible feedback and the music played back through headphones got out of sync towards the end of the song.

Inspired by braille, we wanted to create a system where the finger is capable of "touching" sound.