“The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Meaning Making Machine (MMM) is a resultant of a 3 week collaboration between myself and my studio partner Logan Wilkinson.

The aim of this project was to create an object of collaborative sonic collaboration that was detached from the standardized concept of instruments.

Design Guidelines.

We had multiple conversations around creating soundscapes & how we could mold the creation process into a simpler one. Both having a background in music production we understood the need for a reduced barrier of entry.

Based on these discussion between us and with our peers we were able to form the following basic design guidelines.

1. Creating music is often seen as a difficult task & though to be out of reach.
2. Music making is a collaborative process & can be used a means of connection between unknown people.

Ideation.

Myself having a background in Industrial Design & Logan having one in Psychology & Philosophy, we first began to discuss how could we design a entity that allows for people to develop new connections using sound as a means of collaboration.

We specifically discussed what the experience should be for people who do not have a musical background or have no experience in music production.

Eventually we settled on creating an interpretation of a sequencer (the most basic of music production tools). The aim was to envision a sequencer like device that would aim to incorporate communal input in a shared space.

Building on this mood board we aimed to infuse mysticism into our project, transforming our shared space from a mere work environment to a magical voyage. Contemplating occult and astrological elements like fortune teller booths and horoscope generators, we envisioned a unique atmosphere. Moving forward we leveraged our initial musical aspirations, drawing inspiration from the ECUAD Sound Lab’s array of synthesizers, anagrams, and imagery of moss-covered rock sculptures.

The MMM metaphorically utilizes ecosystems to depict collective meaning creation. In this context, each participant’s presence and their intuitive card selections influence the outcome. The interpretation of this outcome relies on the collective experience of the group.

The initial step in this process involves users selecting cards with words, which, when combined, form a poem whose interpretation can change based on the card sequence. Subsequently, these cards are slotted into one of six positions on the MMM’s body, with each slot representing a musical instrument. The order in which cards are placed in these slots determines which of the six instrument samples will be incorporated into the final song, played once all cards are inserted. This musical composition marks the second layer of meaning creation, influenced by both the group’s decisions regarding card placement and their interpretation of the resulting song. The words on the cards and the instrument samples hold inherent meanings, but their significance evolves and mutates through the dynamic interaction of the group.

Prototyping.

We split the prototyping process into largely three parts:

• Physical Form
• Backend Development
• The Soundscapes

Physical Form.

For the form we had decided on a rock like shape that would have the cards inserted into it in someway. I started off with some quick sketches to put down our collective thoughts.

From there I moved swiftly into making a 3D model of it so we could get an idea of the dimensions & proportions that we would like to have. I used Shapr3D owing to its much faster workflow compared to traditional 3D design software’s.

We settled on having six cards as that is the remainder of our cohort when you exclude us two.

For the physical form we used blue foam as it is a versatile and easy to use material for making organic shapes and requires little prior knowledge to work with. The blue foam pieces were glued together to form a block which was then cut down and sanded into a orb/pebble like shape.

Once the initial form was made I did a mock up with some paper & tape to finalize the position & angle of the card slots. I then made the slits in it with a hot knife.

The next step was the finishing process which logan oversaw. This included priming & painting the orb & making the faux moss to give it an earthy texture.

We also mixed in some actual dirt & leaves we foraged from outside the campus to give it a more natural look.

The next step was to create the cards & accompanying poem that would be in way the user prompt. Logan used Procreate & Adobe Illustrator to create nature inspired symbols that were rooted in this mystical vibe.

Each card also had a word on it that would allow for the creation of a poem based on the order the cards were inserted in.

Backend Development.

For the backend working I decide on a simple card detection mechanism of a blue LED + LDR with a logic gate to detect when the beam was broken. I took the input via the analog serial pins of an Arduino Uno & routed that into Processing which was being used to create the sequence of the audio that gets played.

We chose blue LED’s as they added to the mystical and otherworldly ambiance & it provided a stark contrast to the green earthy mossy form as blue is one of the rarest colors found in nature. The LEDs were positioned such in the form that they provided a blue glow inside the card slots.

The Soundscapes.

All of the samples used to create the soundscapes were recorded by both of us in the Sound lab. We leveraged the sprawl of synthesizers at hand to create various samples that we layered out in Abelton & Audacity. We used the following equipment to record:

• Prophet 5 – Atmospheric pads
• Korg Minilogue – Arpeggio sequences
• Moog Matriarch – Bass + Pads
• Roland Tr8s – Drum pads
• Elektron Digitakt – Guitar, Vocal chops

The video below is a fun summation of this entire development process

Project Demo.

We held the project demo in the Sound Lab as the space with its ambient lighting, surround sound audio setup & blinking instruments added to the mystical & mysterious vibe that we were aiming for.

The demo started with everyone picking a card & inserting it into the MMM in an order that the participants decided among themselves based on the poem they had made using the words on the card.

Reflections.

An interesting dialogue started around the MMM after the demo in which it was viewed as a performance art piece. The mystery of the object & the cards leant to this almost ritualistic kind of interpretation especially as the outcome was unknown. This prompted me to think of the possibility of the MMM being more of a interactive art piece as opposed to being a tool or instrument for studio production or team building.

The flip side was that the unpredictability of the MMM makes its very interesting tool for use during studio recording sessions. As it creates an entirely random output every time one can use it as an ideation tool for writing melodies or for creating interesting fusion song structures.

Apart from technical difficulties like an Arduino failure that prompted me to rewrite the code I would also like the MMM to be completely random as due to the short duration of this project (2 weeks) various things were hard coded in to ensure that the demo progresses smoothly while also giving a similar end result.

Overall I was quite satisfied by what Logan & I created. I especially enjoyed deconstruction the music writing process to understand from a psychological aspect why people make the decisions they do and how we can use that understanding to create something that gives a large effect with very little cause.