The "Beat Pond" - Water waves into musical beats

[Matthew DeBlock]

The "Beat Pond" - Water waves into musical beats
Instructions/example : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRy3kP4QYa4

I have been playing with this idea a while now, and I finally got around to building a prototype. full details : http://www.dscript.org/wave-pond-water-beat-box

The system is somewhat similar to the AWE lights wave box, except that instead of using music to produce waves here we are using waves to produce music. The concept is simple, Placing contacts above the water, and letting waves "press the keys of a keyboard".

The resonance and smooth waves of water makes very rhythmic patterns. The first couple test are basic, with a simple round pond, but the real goal is to develop "modular walls and wave conduits" so resonance can be controlled to produce a wide range of beat patters.

Another direction I have been playing with is what I call "pond bobbers", because my first version used a crude sound generating device that cause it to bob in the water when activated. unfortunately the first versions didn't work as well as I hoped and am stuck with fixed contacts for the moment.

The first pond bobber had a fatal flaw, the vibrations their sound making device produced was enough to make contact in and of itself. This mean the pond bobber didnt "turn off" very well, the turned on when a wave hit and then just stayed on.

The idea of having the bobbers produce sound physically and thus also produce vibrations is fun, but perhaps too complex for now. I am thinking now that the best option may be to have them produce sound digitally, without need for a computer, like little floating eggs that emit a sound when struck by a wave.

For now I will focus on walls, and perhaps the idea of "tunnels" that can "conduct" the wave down below the surface and back up, thus allowing another wave to pass over top.

Lots of fun to be had with this design. Still not completely sure which way it will go, but I have found the smooth rhythmic nature may be great for music... more tests needed to see how "good" the music it makes can be.