I haven’t hooked up astrid serial triggers again yet tonight, but it’s already pretty fun just keyboard mashing with one channel while astrid bloops.

The aux channel isn’t hooked up to anything so the relay being triggered acts like a mute switch. When I hold down a key the repeated letters do a little unstable roll.

This’ll be fun with all the channels and controls in place.

The relays are really pretty loud, but I’m happy about that. I might try to keep the relays exposed enough that I can muffle them by putting objects or materials on them, or amplify them by placing contact mics on them… donno :) lots of ideas, will have to keep screwing around and see.

I’m excited to get serial triggering wired up properly in astrid to try some syncronization: a ping through a cymbal with a short burst of relay clicks at the attack, maybe. A sustained chord broken by relay switching alternating between two cymbals while a third voice patters on through the wood resonator…

I’ve had this little prototype dingus attached to my desk for a few years now, made early on when I started working towards all this. It’s basically just a large piezo disk soldered onto a medium-sized solenoid which is attached to a bracket that can be clamped to a table. I’ve got some things hanging off of it by alligator clips. I’d really like to add things like this to the mileau, where there are small situated speakers (the prepared piezo soldered on top) embeded in objects attached to solenoids, motors, etc. Synchronized mechanical movement with resonances through the same materials.

Baby steps.