Transducer Ring
* here is a vid of it as a speaker, turn up the volume otherwise you might not be able to hear the garble… looking forward to making a second (and working) prototype.
Transducer Ring from lara grant on Vimeo.
I needed a kick start to the fall semester and I thought no better way to do that than getting back on the floor of ITP and getting creative. So, I decided to participate in 4-in-4 that was held over four days August 24th – 28th 2009.
4-in-4 means four projects in four days. This is the basic premise:
- Do a creative project every day for four straight days, starting Monday, August 24th 2009.
- Projects must be completed in a day, so they need to be as compact as they are creative.
- Each project needs a name and documentation posted by the end of the day. It should be a stand-alone accomplishment.
Brainstorming
Gathering of materials
- clear nail polish
- exacto blade
- needle puncher
- wool roving
- electromagnetic wire
- silk taffeta scrap
- felt ring (made prior)
- bit of sand paper
- super glue
- circular magnet with lip from earbuds and headphones I found on the junk shelf
- 1/8″ plug (stereo) to use for hook-up to amplification
- 1/8″ jack (stereo) – I actually found some mono ones in my tool box that work fine too
mac warning
To test the microphone through its trials I planned to plug into the jack to the mic input of my macBook. Just kidding, there is no input, just an in-line which needs more power. So, I grabbed a mini amp which is a useful component for testing sound projects using 1/8” plugs.
general plan
I will be going step by step creating the circuit with items I know will work together then slowly replace and substitute parts with more wearable materials.
I needed to test out my new stereo plugs with the mono jacks I found in my tool box since the sections sometimes don’t line up. Thankfully, it wasn’t a problem.
I wanted to wind my own coils for the found magnets, I found a die and a drill bit that was the a bit smaller than the circumference needed. I fixed that by applying some masking tape. To keep the coil from unraveling, I thinly applied super-glue to the outside. After I shimmied the coils off, I tried dropping them in the space around and inside the the lip of my magnet. The bigger one proved to move more freely, but still not much. I suspected this would be a problem. Still, I decided to go onwards!
In the above photo you can also see a drawing of the coil/magnet and jack placement within the ring.
Using a pre-existing ring I designed out of sheep’s wool, I carved out compartments for the coil and jack to go into. I then coated the inside with clear nail polish to stiffen it up and create a little rigidity since felt can dampen sound waves.
I glued the coil/magnet into the bottom, connected the two ends of the coil to the two leads of my jack (I kept it mono). Taking some silk taffeta, I glued that to the top of the coil and secured the edges around the compartment edge. To cover the top of the jack I needle felted some more black wool around it. It’s still really fluffy, but can it always be re-worked later.
Close-up of the embedded jack
Did it Work?
Yes and no. As I suspected, the fabric I used as a diaphragm for the transducer was stretched too tight over the magnet. Also, the magnet did not move freely enough within the magnetic field in order for it to be pushed and pulled by the vibrations coming out of my mouth while I spoke into it. I was only able to get amped sound of scratching heavily over the coil.
I then tried it as a speaker, I plugged my iPod into my amp, then used my ring as the external. Woohoo! I got sound, granted it was a garbled mess, but non-the-less, it was an intended outcome… ish.
Conclusion
I could of just put the headphone transducer in the ring as is, with it’s own coil and plastic diaphragm. Though, as an option this never appeals to me. The quality of the material (thickness of wire, strength of the magnet, material of diaphragm) has an effect on the quality of the sound emitted.
Having these as variables, I can understand more through experimentation, and therefore, acquire the ability to control them for a desired effect. Playing with as many materials as I can and discovering how soft I can get them, in my eyes, is largely the point. Just as much as the projects intended use. These are things that I will continue to swap out and will soon be using more wearable materials, such as conductive threads, for my coil. In order for experimentations to be more successful while using innovative techniques and materials. I need to keep creating with my hands in order for my brain to understand.
What’s next
In my brainstorm sketch, you can see (or maybe not) that I have other rings in mind. First off, I would like to make another transducer ring with a built-in amp circuit in order to receive feed back while wearing two.
Another is a radio tap ring, I’ve seen some amazing antenna designs based on fractals that pick up tons of frequencies.
I also need to keep building this original transducer ring, until I get it right.
=^..^=
First day of 4-in-4! mountain o'supplies
If you would like to check out other 4-in-4 projects please go to the website. You can filter there by day or by artist.
