MIDI Reactive Lasers
Sound / Visual
This project was a fun way to experiment with some new skills that I had picked up during my early days of playing with microcontrollers and electric circuits. It uses tiny low-powered laser modules that are triggered by data from a MIDI keyboard. The lasers are attached to tiny servo motors which also move based on the MIDI velocity received from the keyboard. The laser's light is made to bounce off the glass surface of a tube light which transforms the point source of light into an arc of light - this creates radial motion when the lasers are animated with the motors.
Video
MIDI Reactive Lasers
Sound / Visual
Photographs / Video
Dennis Peter
This project was a fun way to experiment with some new skills that I had picked up during my early days of playing with microcontrollers and electric circuits. It uses tiny low-powered laser modules that are triggered by data from a MIDI keyboard. The lasers are attached to tiny servo motors which also move based on the MIDI velocity received from the keyboard. The laser's light is made to bounce off the glass surface of a tube light which transforms the point source of light into an arc of light - this creates radial motion when the lasers are animated with the motors.
Parts for the contraption were 3D printed and fitted onto the end of a tube light. The contraption uses 3 laser diodes to create 3 concentric circles on the projecting surface. The MIDI keyboard was then split into 3 separate zones, and any data of notes played within a zone triggers the corresponding laser diode and the servo motor. The servo motor moves in quick oscillating motions - which mimics a tiny vibration on the laser diode. The larger the velocity of the received MIDI signal, the larger the amplitude of the vibration of the motor. As the light of the laser bounces off the curved reflective surface of the tube light, the point source turns into an arc, and the fast vibrations created by the motors make the point light appear like a circle.
Parts for the contraption were 3D printed and fitted onto the end of a tube light. The contraption uses 3 laser diodes to create 3 concentric circles on the projecting surface. The MIDI keyboard was then split into 3 separate zones, and any data of notes played within a zone triggers the corresponding laser diode and the servo motor. The servo motor moves in quick oscillating motions - which mimics a tiny vibration on the laser diode. The larger the velocity of the received MIDI signal, the larger the amplitude of the vibration of the motor. As the light of the laser bounces off the curved reflective surface of the tube light, the point source turns into an arc, and the fast vibrations created by the motors make the point light appear like a circle.