Personally, the contact mic workshop with Rory was definitely one of my favourite sessions in the unit. For the past few years, physical electronics have been one of my bigger interests, and I have spent a lot of time on personal projects such as undergoing repairs on phones and iPods, as well as building and fixing computers for friends and (a few) paying clients! Because of this, I knew that I would enjoy the workshop- my soldering skills are adequate- so I felt quite comfortable with this element of the mic building.
Although I did have some prior electronics experience, I had never created any audio equipment before, so I was unfamiliar with how to connect most of the components, for example, the AUX jack and piezo elements. I found soldering the cables to the different contacts of the AUX jack challenging, due to the small size of the jack’s interior as well as the requirement to keep the wires from touching. This, alongside the uneven heat of the soldering iron, made the start of the workshop more challenging than I initially expected. I was also unfamiliar with how to attach the cable housing snugly without interfering with the wires. This took some time, but after some advice from Rory and more force than I expected, I managed to connect and house the wires correctly.
When testing the mic, I was surprised that it worked the first try perfectly, and I was impressed by the signal quality that could be achieved through two piezo elements and affordable equipment. Since finishing the workshop, I haven’t had the chance to test the mic as it is still being waterproofed; however, I experimented with the Geophone mic from the kit room whilst on the Greenwich trip with Jose. I found that contact mic recordings can be manipulated into effective percussive sounds, such as kick drums recorded by stomping on the ground near the mic. I have also been talking to my course mate Isaac about his experimentation converting a retro drum toy into a programmable drum machine with a direct output. This aspect of sound art interests me a lot, and I am excited to continue experimenting with physical electronics to create unique effects and samples by going to the Creative Technology Hub and using their equipment. I will also experiment with creating guitar pedals over Christmas, as my friend has recently taken it up; I am looking forward to learn the process.
Below are two photos of my contact mic- one work in progress and one of the finished product.
