[sdiy] Foot-stompin' music (idea wanted)

[Tim Ressel]

There is the old standby: sandwich some of that black
static foam between two plates, then sense the
resistance. Use a differentiator to detect transients.
This has been used with limited success with drum pad
sensors.

--TR

--- harry <harrybissell at prodigy.net> wrote:
> Howdy fellow synth-geeks (if you are not a geek just
> delete this now...)
> 
> I'm looking for some ideas for sensing technology.
> The concept is a floor
> mat that you can tap your feet on to trigger drum
> sounds.
> 
> I've built prototypes using optical and FSR
> sensing... both methods require
> you to have your feet in a particular location for
> the method to work.
> 
> I'm looking for a larger area solution. Ideal
> methods would be thin, silent,
> not too heavy (less than 20lbs or so, so a slab o'
> metal is not out of the
> question)...
> have variable output with foot impact, velocity,
> pressure, whatever.
> 
> I'm considering an FSR array with the individual
> pads or'ed together... If I can
> get the sensors.  However the company that makes
> them only offers a design kit
> that would be prohibitively expensive to purchase
> that way...
> 
> Price is a semi-object. If it worked well maybe a
> couple hundred dollars would
> not be too much to fund the development.
> 
> I'd prefer not to instrument the shoes, a'la Joe
> Paradiso at MIT (who you should
> look up just for his synth, BTW)... because I'd like
> to hit footswitches without
> triggering a drum event.
> 
> What'll it be ? Capacitive, Inductive, Magnetic
> Proxy, Fiber-optics...
> some collection of old VF displays or slinkys (a'la
> electric peasent ;^)
> Surface Acoustic Waves... RF... theremin technology
> ??? Tesla coils?
> Metallic shoes ???
> 
> Go wild... all reasonable ideas accepted
> (and unreasonable as well if they are funny
> enough...)
> 
> H^) harry
> 
> 
> 


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