I attended the "From Code to Culture" ASEAN Forum this week. It provided much-needed theoretical validation. The consensus was that technology should not replace tradition but extend it.
It should act as a tool for humans to inquire why art matters. This reassured me that embedding sensors in traditional instruments is not polluting the tradition provided the human gesture remains central.
With this confidence I returned to the class studio to scale up my Piezo success.
WEEK 12
Validation
The forum confirmed that digital tools should extend tradition rather than replace it. The focus must remain on the human gesture.
Scaling Up
Moving from one sensor to five to map different zones of the area. This introduced non-linear complexity in wiring and debugging.
Data Serialization
Reading analog inputs sequentially caused lag. I rewrote the Arduino code to bundle all sensor data into a single JSON array per frame.
I moved to Experiment 5.1 and expanded from a single sensor to a full array of five Piezo sensors. The goal is to map different zones of a drum like the rim or center to different visual parameters.
However scaling up electronics is never linear. Five sensors meant five times the wires. It meant five times the potential for cross-talk on the breadboard. The circuit quickly became a spaghetti mess that was difficult to debug.
This hardware expansion necessitated a software rewrite. Reading five analog inputs sequentially caused lag in the visual output. I had to restructure the Arduino code to bundle the data into a clean JSON array. This allows the visual software to parse the state of the entire drum in a single frame rather than waiting for individual sensor reports.
I also learned a painful lesson about the fragility of hardware. The soldering points on the Piezo discs are microscopic and brittle. I broke several sensors simply by moving the breadboard.
It is a humbling reminder that making is not just about code and logic. It is about the physical endurance of materials. I am learning to treat the electronics with the same delicacy as the instrument.
