These are some quick sketches showing the basic concept for a modular system to aid musicians whilst they are busy jamming. I created this system after finding myself in a bit of a difficult situation, in which the guitarist that I was drumming along to wanted to signal that he was going to change beat, but had no way of effectively telling me, as both of his hands were occupied.
The system works by using visual cues to structure a jamming session, and by removing all the difficulties in communicating between musicians, the creative process becomes much more streamlined and a lot more fun!
The modules are connected wirelessly and by pre-programming a beat pattern, or even playing a basic track through the main module, each of the separate instrument modules can display a flashing metronome which will provide a countdown and change colour as the rhythm changes.
The modules can also be programmed to display sheet music or tablature, and can have built in microphones to record jamming sessions so that the music can be played back afterwards to analyse any bits that sounded interesting.
Auxillery inputs allow headphones to be plugged in, or for SD cards and USB sticks containing tablature or sheet music to be uploaded.
Each module is designed to be very robust - hence their block like nature, and able to withstand serious wear and tear. Ideally they would be formed from high strength ABS, and re-enforced with metal end caps (much like a guitar amplifier).
They are all also designed to fit onto the instruments themselves, with a lot of position adjustablility, so as to keep the musicians' hands free.
I hope to eventually model these designs to test out their feasability on real instruments, however at the moment I am still working through the finalities of the concept.
As soon as I get around to it I will upload them here!
As soon as I get around to it I will upload them here!
