GMU:Max and I, Max and Me/Anna Lena Ruth Wissmueller

Digital wind chime

An analog wind chime consists of small pipes (for example made out of wood or metal) that are moved by the wind. When they collide sounds are produced. I created a digital wind chime with the program Max MSP and an Arduino. The arduino is equipped with a light sensor and is connected to the computer that runs max msp. The arduino does not sense wind, but light. Therefore, the wind has to be translated into light. That happens for example when the sun is shining and light falls through the leaves of a bush or tree. The digital wind chime has to be placed under said tree/bush. It can be started with a button in the max msp program.

The digital wind chime consists of two parts: one fundamental tone that is played by the drunk object of max msp and is running all the time. The second part is depending on the data, that the arduino gathers through the light sensor. Different shades create different tones in max msp.

The arduino can be put into a box, so the wind chime resembles a music box rather than an electric setup.