For the past month I’ve been working on a hand-cranked beat sequencer. This device grew out of a bunch of ideas I’ve had while working on my residency at DPI.
In short, the sequencer consists of two large, concentrically-mounted wooden wheels. One of the wheels rotates on an axle and the other which has sixteen sliding levers attached to its face remains stationary. As the front wheel rotates, a switch mounted on its back is depressed by levers on the back wheel which have been pushed toward the wheel’s center. Each time the rotating switch strikes a lever, a sample is triggered on the attached computer. It is possible to play repeating sequences of samples by rotating the wheel at a constant rate.
The following video shows the operation of an early cardboard prototype:
Since shooting this video almost a month ago, I have been building a more substantial prototype out of wood.
Tonight, I’ll be testing out the wheel with the software I wrote before I made the cardboard prototype.