AU WAI SI, SAMANTHA

details of project

For our project, we were required to come up with a workshop for 90 groups of 3 to 4 participants per group. We were tasked to design 6 different kits for variety. Our kits could not be specific to any particular instrument or idea so as to allow the participant to have their own creative freedom and do what they want. The materials we provided them would mainly consist of everyday items such as straws, cups and even sewing thread. However, before we could start packing our kits, we had to understand the process for ourselves to design the most ideal kit. As the workshop was aimed to teach them some basic coding through using Scratch as well as how to connect a simple circuit board known as the Makey Makey. Through using these, the final product they should have would be a musical experience. We spent the first week learning the code as well as how to use the Makey Makey to create prototype instruments. After some discussion, we decided to make some instruments as well as objects to play random sounds as we felt that it would spark curiosity in the user as it usually it would not be expected for that object to play that sound. We decided to create a guitar, flute, piano, trumpet, harp, violin, cymbals and drums. Throughout this process we were faced by many challenges. Some of the challenges included minor things such as the users hands being too sweaty and resulted in them not being able to play the instrument to not being able to more major earth the circuit without making the user hold an earth cable. To overcome these challenges, we tried to come up with more innovative solutions such as making the earth a part of the instrument such as the bow of a violin. This made it look less awkward when the user was playing the instrument. One instrument that was particularly challenging was the piano. We initially wanted to shade the keys using a pencil, however at the time they only had 2B pencils available and the graphite was very easily scratched off and would cause breaks in the circuit. We looked online to find some solutions and soon realised that for most examples using graphite, they would use a 6B or 8B pencil as it would transfer more graphite on to the surface than a 2B pencil. However in order to complete our prototype, we decided to use another conductor such as aluminium tape to substitute it until we were able to get some 8B pencils to test it out. Alas, the 8B pencils proved effective and we decided that it would be a fun and diverse material to include inside our kits.

Overall, we were able to create all our instruments successfully despite the challenges we faced throughout the process of learning the program, by troubleshooting the new challenges we faced along the way.

Deliverable

At the end of the prototyping process, we needed to come up with the lesson materials such as the slides and word prompts to get the participants started on creating their own musical experience. We decided that for our word prompt we would do it in the form of a step-by-step how-to for our simplest instrument, the cymbals. Below are some examples of the slides and word prompt that we created. After we completed the digital side of things, we needed to complete the logistical side of things. We needed to plan what exactly would go into each kit and the feasibility of this. To reduce costs, we decided to create a tool kit as well as consumables kit. The tool kit could be shared between groups while each group would get a different variation of the consumables kit. This way, we would reduce the number of tools such as scissors and pen knives that would set our budget back. To further reduce costs, we decided to look through their store room and look for materials we could potentially reuse and recycle. Luckily, we were able to find the bulk of what we needed in the storerooms, but there were still some items missing as they were more specific to our workshop, such as 8B pencils and contact lens solution. So, we gathered a list of items we needed to buy and headed out to stores such as Watsons, Value dollar and Art Friend to get our supplies.

3 Skills learnt

2 Interesting aspects of your learning

1. It was very rewarding at the end of the attachment when we were able to look at our finished prototypes to see and hear them work without any bugs, as well as to look at the kits that we finished packing due to the sheer amount of work that we had to do to achieve the outcome. From the brain-tiring research and thinking, to prototyping, and to the labour intensive packing that we had to do to ensure the efficient flow of the workshop. It was a truly satisfying end to the weeks of hard work that we spent at the Science Centre. Though we will not be able to go down to be there for the actual workshop, it was a very fulfilling experience that allowed us to learn new skills such as basic programming as well as how to work in an office style environment which is very different from what we are used to in school.
2. Another interesting aspect of my learning while in Science Centre was that it sparked a greater curiosity in the sciences and technology as it opened my eyes to what knowing programming can do. It showed me that knowing programming could lead to fun new experiences such as using a banana as a piano and not just something to eat. It showed me that programming was not only something you would use at a desk job as an engineer or programmer but as something fun and new that you could use to expand your creativity beyond just paper in the real world. It showed me how fun it could be to incorporate both the real and digital world together to come up with something I would never have thought of before.

1 Takeaway for life

My biggest takeaway from my experience would be learning how to think out of the box and to learn how to think from others perspectives as well. Dr Kiru told us that she measures the success of the workshop through the diversity of outcome. This is something that I remember very clearly from my attachment as what she said is true, in a world where so many things have already been done, we need to learn how to think out of the box and come up with new solutions. In our world today, diversity is more important than ever as we face new challenges at every turn and if everyone all thinks in one direction for a solution, we may not be very efficient in coming up with these solutions.