News/Research

Summer Research Dispatch: Maija Hynninen & Sounding Sculpture

14 Oct, 2017

Summer Research Dispatch: Maija Hynninen & Sounding Sculpture

We were thrilled to offer six BCNM graduate students stipends to pursue their research over the summer of 2017. Below, Maija Hynninen​ shares her work on

My original plan for the sound diffusion system for ‘Sounding Sculpture’ looked like this:

Original plan of sound diffusion system for ‘Sounding Sculpture’

Original plan of sound diffusion system for ‘Sounding Sculpture’.

The project has advanced in all areas. I’ve successfully 1) built contact microphones and preamplifiers for them, 2) connected iPad to computer and can control sound diffusion by moving fingers on the iPad surface.

Contact microphones and pre-amplifiers

I’ve built the contact microphone and preamplifier following the instructions found on this website.

There is still some work in customising these parts for my project. One of the main problems is the size of the parts. Next step in this project is to make the circuits smaller in size. I also need to figure out a better way to connect the microphone to the preamplifier and also make the pre-amplifier smaller in size.

On the right contact microphone, on the left preamplifier

On the right contact microphone, on the left preamplifier.

iPad connected to CPU

On the left on iPad Lemur-application with spatialisation patch open. On the right ambisonics-spatialisation application used within Max-program.

On the left on iPad Lemur-application with spatialisation patch open. On the right ambisonics-spatialisation application used within Max-program.

I’ve made a patch for iPad Lemur-application where movement of the fingers on the iPad surface will move sound sources in CPU Max-program.

The connection between the iPad and CPU is wireless wi-fi connection. Within the Maxprogram I’ve used ambisonics-application for controlling the movement of the sound sources in loudspeaker space. Sound sources are presented with the dots on the iPad surface as well as in ambisonics-app. The loudspeaker space can be configured and customised according to the needs of the project.

Here’s a video that shows the connection between the iPad and the CPU and the movement of the sound sources.

Wireless connection from microphone to CPU

I’ve faced a lot of problems in trying to create a wireless connection from the microphones to the computer. My original plan was to send audio from the microphones with a small micro controller that has bluetooth or wifi connection on it. It turned out that neither Arduino boards nor ZigBee transmitters would be fast enough to stream audio.

I started looking at possibilities similar to audio bluetooth devices and wireless microphones. Wireless microphones use radio transmitters to send audio to a receiver unit. Bluetooth devices send audio directly to the computer.

I’ve ordered new parts for testing the bluetooth possibilities. There were not very many products that would fit my project. I need something that is small and light so that it can be attached to the sculpture. I’ve ordered and currently waiting for a bluetooth audio receiver board with microphone input.

New sound diffusion plan for ‘Sounding Sculpture’

New sound diffusion plan for ‘Sounding Sculpture’.