Input/Output

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. The CircleMaze, which would be included as one of the experiences for the new installation, 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. While the turntables on the Jam-O-Drum on which the CircleMaze was developed were mounted underneath the tabletop, the new device would integrate the two into one station, as a part of the tabletop surface, allowing 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.