Seven in Seven: Day 1

My constraints:

Since moving to New York I have purchased and acquired an annoying amount of ikea furniture that has left me with bags full of extra and unused parts, with cardboard boxes, and packaging materials.  I also have a metal cart that came with a piece missing, and I have been figuring out a way to try and get rid of it.

So my first constraint is materials: I can only build my projects using materials from Ikea (with the addition of glue and wire to attach items together).

Along with that I have a passion for music and everything having to do with music.

My second constraint is in concept: Every projects must in some way relate to an element of music.

Lastly to add a little extra challenge for myself, for my third constraint ever project must incorporate the number 7.

My first Project: 5 Finger Drum

When listening to music, as many people do, I often will be tapping my fingers to the beat. This inspired me to want to create a device that allows me to create different sounds with the tap of each respective finger. This way when tapping to the music, I can more closely resemble the song.  I used 5 different Ikea parts (screws,washers,etc..) and used packaging material to create finger loops, so each “drum” can be looped on to each of your five fingers. Then each loop is attached to wire that brings the five “drums” together as a meeting point at the base of a metal surface. Along with the 5 finger drums, there is also a floor pad attached next to the thumb position to create a muffled sound, and a plastic corner piece attached next to the index finger position to create a “record scratching” sound. So all in all the user can create 7 different drum sounds.

Challenges: getting the loops and wire to line up to be ergonomically correct so the user can play with comfort.

Next steps: As a basic analogue “Drum Kit” the device is fun. But If I were to take it to the next step I would love this to be a prototype for an electronic device that has sensors attached at the end of each finger, with a MIDI connection that could be used for music production.