Presenter: Evan Kline
Faculty Mentor: Chet Udell
Presentation Type: Creative Work 5 (GSH Art Gallery)
Primary Research Area: Fine/Performance Arts
Major: Music Technology
The problem that a lot of electronic musicians face is that their performance isn’t always intuitive to their audiences; the devices and gestures used don’t always translate into an understanding to the reactions of the performers actions. I created a thermal wand as a way to explore an alternative way to interact with sound. The motivation wasn’t to solve or collect data, it was to creatively explore the problem. The thermal wand is an aluminum rod with three temperature sensors (spaced evenly across the rod) along with an accelerometer. A computer receives data from the sensors, interprets it, and generates the sound. To play this instrument it is submerged in different temperature water baths, presenting two issues: Making it waterproof, and make it conduct heat efficiently. Waterproofing was solved by coating sensitive areas in plasti-dip, heat conductivity was solved through material choice and thermal grease. My performance will be the presentation of my work. Because of the design of the instrument I had to come up with a way to make an engaging performance. To do this I used a central metaphor (summer and winter) to enforce the connection between my actions and the musical reactions. I am continuing work on this instrument by creating a more approachable performance as well as finding new ways to use the temperature sensors.