Musical Instrument

• The musical instrument I created plays two different notes (A & D) depending on which pushbutton you press, or middle C if you do not press any button. I created a small box for my instrument to hide (most) implementation of wires, circuits, etc.
• Crawford’s model of interaction defines interactivity as “a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think, and speak”. The musical instrument I designed follows this model because both parties in the interaction (the person and the instrument) listen, think, and speak – that is, they input, process, and output information. I input information to the instrument by pressing the switchbutton (or not pressing it), the machine code interprets and processes the data, which then outputs a specific tone.
• I could have improved the interactivity and expressiveness of my musical instrument in several ways. Perhaps I could have included a potentiometer in my design that controlled the volume output of the speaker. This would have increased the amount of interaction between the user and the instrument, as the user would not only control the notes being played but also the intensity of sound. I could also have implemented an LED light system that lit up according to which note was pressed, thus both increasing the expressiveness of the instrument and the interaction on the instrument’s part.