The Drum

 

History

 

Table Design

 

Sound System

 

Input / Output

 

Construction

 

Halo

 

 

Experiences

Exhibits

Publications

Press

People

Drumpads and Turntables

Previous experiences created for the Jam-O-Drum platform had used MIDI drum pads as input devices and experiences had centered mainly on the act of drumming with hands. CircleMaze, which would be included as one of the experiences for the an installation at Zeum's Youth Art and Technology Center, used turntable devices as inputs. The group decided to include both methods on the new device because they felt that the drumpads were the simplest and most intuitive method of input for musical experiences.The new Jam-O-Drum device would both imput into one player station. This will allow for the projection to include the turntable movement just as it had included the drumpad operation in earlier models.

 

 (click on the image to see pdf of scale drawings)

Turntable input to PC

The signal sent from the turntable to the PC would be input through the turning of a rotary encoder attached to the turntable device. Since the drumpad was to remain stationary inside the turntable as it turned, the encoder couldn't be mounted in the center of the turntable as it had been with the turntable inputs on the current Jam-O-Drum. The solution to that problem was to mount the encoder on the underside of the table. Mounted there, it could contact the turntable and maintain a friction contact between the rubber sides of the turntable and a rubber drive wheel on the encoder.

(click on the image to see pdf of scale drawings)