BREATHING INSTRUMENT
I’ve decided to attempt to build my initial idea for a breath-controlled instrument/costume and explore several options using different ways of sensing the stretching movement created by breathing. Each one uses a different kind of material to create a variation in resistance which would be measurable and translated into sound.
method 1 : conductive rubber cord
I want to experiment with the original idea of using conductive rubber chord, however I’m not sure this will be the perfect solution to the problem. If it isn’t I can imagine other projects that this would work for – ones that it wouldn’t be such an issue if the rubber doesn’t shrink back immediately.
In terms of what the instrument could do, it would produce very linear data which would be very simplistic unless I make it more complex in the coding stage.
method 2 : knitted elastic yarn and conductive yarn
https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Breath-Sensor-with-Arduino-Conductive-Knitted-/
Another solution is to use this tutorial I came across on instructables to construct a similar mechanism for measuring stretch which uses conductive yarn knitted with elastic yarn to give the belt the ability to stretch. This is more useful perhaps as a band around the chest (as the image on the blog shows) but would be less easy to integrate into the waistband of a skirt in the way I’d like. It could be hidden under a costume however, so the effect would be the same though it wouldn’t be the costume itself creating the sound.
method 3 : Conductive thread and regular elastic
This third solution is one which would produce more complex sounds just in the physical nature of the instrument, rather than relying on coding to make the sounds less linear. It involves sewing patterns into two pieces of regular elastic and the friction of the stitches passing over each other is the thing that would be measured and turned into sound.
Things to consider now :
- Could the costume be made wireless using bluetooth?
- How do I construct the rest of the circuit to get the best results?
- Do I want a linear sound or for it to be more complex?
- How will it interact with the voice?
- How will the costume look?