@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ Some people prefer the term 'wearable electronics' instead of e-textiles - both
## What's an oscillator?
Every synthesizer needs an oscillator. An oscillator is a circuit that takes a steady signal (e.g. from a battery) and turns it into an oscilllating (changing / moving up and down) signal.
Ada has two strips of conductive material woven into it (the black squares in the diagram above). One strip connects to the input of an oscillator in the Wendy module, and the other connects to the output of that oscillator. When you touch both sides at the same time, current flows (via you) through the circuit and sound is created! How hard you press on the fabric strips, or how much skin you use to touch them (the tip of a finger vs a whole hand, for example) affects the tone - the harder you press, the higher the pitch.
The Maryam module also works with the Wendy module, in the same way as the Ada Module. By using your hands to connect the two sides of the module, current flows through the oscillator circuit in the Wendy module. Again, the intensity of touch determines the pitch you create. Different people's hands will also create different pitches - dry hands are less conductive than sweaty hands, because sweat contains salt and makes the skin more conductive :)
* When not touched, no current flowing through oscillator, no sound
* When touched, intensity of touch determines pitch
The design of the Maryam module is a Hilbert curve. Read more in my [project diary](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/jessica.stanley/projects/project_diary/week05/) about this, and how I created the pattern.
The design of the Maryam module is a Hilbert curve. Read more in my project diary (link) about this
The Daphne module is one of the modules you can use with the Wendy module. The strips of conductive material on the front and back of Daphne create one long path of conductive fabric between the two metal snaps. Pulling on the fabric tabs shortens this path, which lowers the resistance between the two sides, and raises the pitch you create.
The Daphne module is the third module you can use with the Wendy. The strips of conductive material on the front and back of Daphne create one long path of conductive fabric between the two metal snaps. Pulling on the fabric tabs shortens this path, which lowers the resistance between the two sides, and raises the pitch you create.
The most important material in the Anni module is the yarn - it's part conductive, and part regular (non-conductive) yarn, and the way the Anni module works exploits this. The Anni module connects to the Delia, and tones are played by pressing down on where the Anni's loops overlap. Pressing in this way allows the conductive fibers in the loops to come into contact, allowing current to flow through them, and change the pitch that is played (when nothing is pressed, a tone is playing, but it's outside the range of human hearing).
## Volume
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@@ -126,16 +125,21 @@ When not pressed,...
The volume module is a fabric version of a potentiometer, working as a voltage divider, but instead of having a continuous range, it has three settings - low, medium and high.
What this means is...
What this means is that depending on what setting the Volume module is on, the current must travel through more / less resistive material before it gets to the Amplifier module, and on to a speaker. The more resistive material the current travels through, the smaller the signal, the less it drives the speaker, and the quieter the sound!
The Amp module is a simple little amplifier circuit based on the LM386 Audio Power Amplifier chip. To be perfectly honest, amplification is the part of this whole project that I know least about. For more information, and a breadboard version of the circuit (and some alternative circuits) check out [Handmade Electronic Music](https://www.nicolascollins.com/handmade.htm) by Nicolas Collins.
The Hedy module is a simple filter. It's the first step of [this Logic Noise tutorial](https://hackaday.com/2015/03/25/logic-noise-filters-and-drums/) which eventually turns the raw square wave sound of our oscillators into electronic drum sounds! But the Hedy module is simpler than that - using a capacitor, a resistor, and another IC chip, it is a lowpass filter, knocking out some of the higher frequencies of the signal and resulting in a smoother sound.
