Dulcigon
As an early part of my thesis project at Cal Poly, I designed this as an instrument whose main purpose wouldn't be performance, but education through exploration. My goal was to create something that would draw students to it because they were curious about what it was and how it worked. As they played with the sliders, they would figure out more about pitch sparking conversations about the math and science involved in producing sound.
Working on this project was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had. It was satisfying to expand on my knowledge of music and develop my craftsmanship before I built the final product. This project was entered into Cal Poly's annual Vellum Furniture Design Competition and won runner up.
Iterative Design Process
While my process usually relies pretty heavily on sketching and computer modelling while I am developing a design, this project developed almost completely through iterative models. The very first models were for proof of concept. I then refined the shape and structure based on problems I found in each iteration.
Pieces
All of the pieces before the assembled to make one component of the dulcigon.
Finished Product
The finished instrument is made of six different pieces that are usually arranged into a hexagon but could also be arranged into a variety of shapes or kept separated so that 6 different people could play them at the same time.