Water Levels Create Different 8 Different Sounds

The concept behind water level and music is inspired by glass harps. The idea is that each glass is tuned to a different pitch by filling the glass with water until the desired pitch is achieved

The futuristic hologram and reflective materials are inspired by the electronic music the instrument plays. I use translucent material to emphasize water reflection, light, and shadow.

I name is project "Composition" because you can compose your own music by playing with the water level in each container. In addition, you can compose the 5 components in this set and place them in different environment to experience different lights and reflection effects.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

MATERIALS

- Translucent double-sided hologram acrylics thickness : 1/8", size 12" x 24".

- Translucent double-sided mirror acrylic thickness : 1/8", size 12" x 24".

- Clear acrylics Cylinder dia : 3 3/4", height : 12"

- Clear acrylic Rectangular Tube dia 3 1/2", height : 12"

- Frosted Acrylic

- One-sided mirror acrylics thickness : 1/8"

all from Canal Plastic 345 Canal Street, New York, NY 10013

http://canalplastic.com

- 2 plastic water taps

http://www.amazon.com/Water-Dispenser-Replacement-...

- Frosted 1" plastic tube 24" long

- Frosted 1/2" plastic tube 24" long

Home Depot

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Watts-1-4-in-x-170-in-x...

- 2 Arduino Board Uno

http://www.adafruit.com/products/50

- Adafruit Audio FX Sound Board + 2x2W Amp - WAV/OGG Trigger -16MB

https://www.adafruit.com/products/2217

- 2 eTape Liquid Level Sensor

http://www.adafruit.com/products/463

- 2 Small Speaker

- 16 LEDs

- Wires

- 4 nuts and bolts

TOOL

- Soldering Tool

- Wire Snipper

- Utility Knife

- Plastic Cements

- Clear Kitchen and Bath Adhesive Sealant

- Hot Glue Gun

- Drilling Machine

- Laser Cutter Machine

Step 2: Cut and Drill

Export all the Rhinoceros files to an Illustrator vector file for laser cutting. These files have been flattened so they are ready to be taken into illustrator to create “laser-cutable” outlines. Feel free to use your own design for this step.

Step 3: Glue, Seal and More Glue...more Seal...

Assemble the water container need extra attention. I use water proof silicone sealer for bathroom to prevent leaking. Plastic cement and acrylic solvent are adhesive materials I used. Once the LED light bulbs are put in place, you can reinforce and secure them with hot glue gun.

Step 4: Soldering

There are two parts that need to be soldered. The first part is the the LED bulbs. After putting all the bulbs in place, I solder additional 20 inches long wires to the bulbs. The second part is the sensor. I also solder about 24-inch-long wires to it.

Step 5: Arduino

The first step is to plug in eTape to your breadboard and use the following code to activate the sensor. There are two important things you need to know before we start. Firstly, since the tape detects the different distances of the liquid by the compress of hydrostatic pressure the sensor, the container dimension affects the pressure. Therefore, you should to test the tape with the container that you are using in order to get the exact reading. Second, the eTape works effective and accurately only when it is flat and straight. As a result, you should attach the tape to the container other flat and stiff material with double-sided adhesive tape, to get the tape to work properly.

water_light_sound_etape.ino
Download

Step 6: Upload Your Audio Files

Uploading audio files to FX soundboard is very simple.

I downloaded mp3’s from open-sources. Then I used http://media.io to convert my mp3 file to .ogg. When Adafruit soundboard is plugged into the computer, you can drag the files into the drive. Rename the files as T00, T01, T02, T03.

Here I attaches 8 .ogg music files for two sound boards. Please rename it as T00, T01, T02, T03 when copy to Adafruit soundboard or it the soundboard will not recognise the files!