jumpSynth
A trampoline synthesizer.
A synthesizer that is controlled primarily by jumping on a trampoline. The parameters of the synth (and the audio output) are on a custom designed box with a neck strap that the player wears whilst jumping on the synth. It's fully standalone, so you can jump on it anywhere you like to make noise.
I’ve been playing around with trampolines as interfaces for some time now. The premise is really simple – with some copper tape underneath the trampoline you can make a switch circuit that is completed each time someone jumps, making the equivalent of a button press. You can then use that to make noise (or play a game or anything, really). It’s an incredibly satisfying and universal interaction, jumping up and down to control sounds just works well for some reason.
In terms of the jumpSynth – the synth part is a Pure Data patch running on a Bela. I’m no synthesis expert, so it’s a kind of silly synth with 8 analog control inputs. It produces a fun array of sounds overall – I designed the sound to work well with the jumping interface. The synth plays a sequence of notes from an array in a loop. With each “button” press from the trampoline it plays the next note. There is a button for randomizing the notes.
Funny story: my original plan was for this synth to be called “goatSynth” because my sister got some pygmy goats and I thought it would be hilarious to make a trampoline synth that the goats would play by jumping up and down. I soon learned that goats don’t always jump up and down on things. They just stood there looking confused. If anyone has any tips for getting goats to jump on command please let me know.
In terms of the jumpSynth – the synth part is a Pure Data patch running on a Bela. I’m no synthesis expert, so it’s a kind of silly synth with 8 analog control inputs. It produces a fun array of sounds overall – I designed the sound to work well with the jumping interface. The synth plays a sequence of notes from an array in a loop. With each “button” press from the trampoline it plays the next note. There is a button for randomizing the notes.
Funny story: my original plan was for this synth to be called “goatSynth” because my sister got some pygmy goats and I thought it would be hilarious to make a trampoline synth that the goats would play by jumping up and down. I soon learned that goats don’t always jump up and down on things. They just stood there looking confused. If anyone has any tips for getting goats to jump on command please let me know.
